CWC 23: India Opts to Bat First against South Africa at Eden Gardens | Here’s the Playing XIs

Atop-of-the-table clash at Eden Gardens in Kolkata as India take on South Africa in a mouth-watering contest at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first in Kolkata. Rohit believed that both sides have played some good cricket so far in the tournament, and they were looking forward to an interesting contest today. India went in with the same XI that had featured in the last game.

Temba Bavuma also believed that he would have batted first. There was only one change in the South Africa setup, with Tabraiz Shamsi coming in for Gerald Coetzee.

India are the only undefeated side in the tournament thus far, but will be wary of Temba Bavuma's men, who have gone from strength to strength since their upset against the Netherlands in Dharamsala.

While the Men in Blue have been rocked by the loss of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami's form has been a big boost for them. The pacer has picked 14 wickets at a mind-boggling average of 6.71, especially bamboozling the batters under the lights.

South Africa's only concern, thus far, has been their form while chasing. In their two instances of batting second, they've lost a low-scoring encounter to the Dutch, while in the second game they fought a hard-earned win against Pakistan in Chennai.

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Also Read: ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup: India Ready to Risk Virat Kohli as Sixth Bowling Option