Nagpur, March 12: India have won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa inone of the most keenly awaited contests of the league phase of the ICC World Cup 2011. India have made one change to their squad bringing Munaf Patel in to replace Piyush Chawla. South Africa, meanwhile, have left the injured Imran Tahir out and included Johan Botha.
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha boasts a good wicket and a lush green out-field, observed Sourav Ganguly in his pitch report. The wicket is expected to be full of runs.
Captain Speak:
MS Dhoni (India)
On the wicket: “It looks like a good track to bat on. History also says it will be good for batsmen.”
On the importance of the game: “We had good exposure chasing [in the previous games]. Each game is very important but this is an important game for us. It is important how we are shaping-up for the knockout stages.”
Graeme Smith (South Africa)
On the toss: “We too would have batted first but we will now look to restrict them. It’s a real good game and we have been preparing for it for a week.”
Playing XIs
India: SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, G Gambhir, V Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (c & wk), YK Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, A Nehra, MM Patel
South Africa: GC Smith (c), HM Amla, JH Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, F du Plessis, MN van Wyk (wk), RJ Peterson, J Botha, M Morkel, DW Steyn
