Rohit Sharma-led India won the toss and decided to bat first against Temba Bavuma’s South Africa in the 37th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
The ‘Men in Blue’ stand in the top place of the ODI World Cup 2023 standings with 14 points after winning all seven of their previous matches. On the other hand, the Proteas hold second place with 12 points after losing just one of their previous seven games. Both sides are in top form and will be eyeing the top spot on the points table. However, both India and South Africa have confirmed their spots in the semis of the prestigious tournament.Speaking at the toss, Rohit Sharma said that they had decided to bat first since they wanted to challenge themselves and had nothing to do with the pitch.”We will bat first. Looks like a good pitch, it had nothing to do with the pitch, we wanted to challenge ourselves. It’ll be a good game, two teams who have played consistent cricket and have topped the table, will be nice to win and go on top. I love to play over here, not just me, the entire team looks forward to playing at this historic ground. We’re playing the same team, don’t think we need to change anything with the way we’ve been playing,” Rohit said.On the other hand, Temba Bavuma said that they would have batted first, but now they need to chase. Tyhe Proteas skipper confirmed that Tabraiz Shamsi will replace Gerald Coetzee in the first eleven.”We would have batted first, but now we need to chase, which will be a nice challenge. We know that’s one area where we need to gain more confidence, we’ll have to bat with responsibility. We have been putting on good consistent performances, and we’ll look to improve going forward. One change – Shamsi comes in place of Gerald Coetzee,” Bavuma said.South Africa Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (Wk), Temba Bavuma (C), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.The match between India and South Africa will kick off at 2:00 PM IST. (ANI)
