IND vs SA 1st T20I: India To Bat First After South Africa Win Toss; Check Playing XIs, Cuttack Pitch Report

India vs South Africa: After breaking the streak of losing the toss, the Indian Cricket Team has returned to normalcy again. The visitors, South Africa, won the toss and elected to bowl first in the 1st T20I here at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday. Aiden Markram will lead the side as there are a few additions in the playing XI.

Quinton de Kock comes back into the side as an opener. David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, and Anrich Nortje are other notable additions to the side.

For India, T20 vice-captain Shubman Gill and all-rounder Hardik Pandya returned to the eleven, having missed some of the recent action with respective injuries. Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana miss out in this match.

Also Read: IND vs SA 1st T20I Live Scorecard

Barabati Stadium, Cuttack Pitch Report: As per the official broadcaster, "It's a red soil wicket but can't quite see the soil because there is grass on here. There are also a few cracks. It's going to play a lot better than it looks. Batters will make merry but I would bowl first. The red soil generally has more bounce."

Suryakumar Yadav addressed the issue of dew at the toss, stating that it will be a challenge for the bowlers.

"We were a little confused looking at the wicket. Yesterday it was looking a little more greener, but today we were a little confused. But it’s okay, we’re happy to bat first. It gives a good challenge to put runs on the board and come out here and defend. I mean, see, it (dew factor) becomes a little challenging for the bowlers - you can’t run away from the fact. But going from here on, I think that’s going to remain for a really long time," Indian captain said.

Also Read: Bangar on Pandya's impact in T20I format

Teams:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donnovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi.