IND vs SA 1st Test Day 1 LIVE Score: India are currently leading the ICC Test Championship points table with 120 points.
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07:25 (IST)
Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Day one of the first Test between top-ranked India and South Africa, beginning Visakhapatnam. This will be the Proteas' inaugural Test series which is part of the newly-introduced ICC World Test Championship, whereas Virat Kohli and Co opened their campaign with a 2-0 series win over West Indies in August.
India vs South Africa, LIVE Cricket Score, Test Match, Day 1 at Visakhapatnam Latest Updates: Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Day one of the first Test between top-ranked India and South Africa, beginning Visakhapatnam. This will be the Proteas' inaugural Test series which is part of the newly-introduced ICC World Test Championship, whereas Virat Kohli and Co opened their campaign with a 2-0 series win over West Indies in August.
Preview: One-day big hitter Rohit Sharma will stake a claim to become India's first-choice opening Test batsman when they start a series against South Africa on Wednesday looking for a record-breaking win.
Victory in the three-match series would see India break the record of 10 straight home series wins they currently hold with Australia.
Much focus in the first Test in Visakhapatnam will be on the 32-year-old Sharma – a star of India's limited-overs teams as well as skipper of the Mumbai Indians who won this year's Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament.
Sharma has not been a Test regular, however. The last of his 27 Test caps since 2013 was in Australia last year.
He now has a new chance, replacing the out-of-form KL Rahul, as the opening positions remain a problem for India.
"He has worked so hard and if he gets an opportunity, I am sure he will do well," vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said of Sharma.
"We all know the quality he has. He is simply special."
The new Sharma experiment has had a disastrous start, however -- he was dismissed for a duck on the second ball he faced in a practice game against the South Africans.
Natural runs
India batting great VVS Laxman said Sharma needs to stick to his natural flair while opening in the longer format.
"If you tweak your natural game too much, then you will not get the results as your mind gets cluttered and you tend to lose your rhythm," said Laxman, a middle-order batsman who was forced to open for India.
"I can admit that my flow was affected when I opened. Rohit is a rhythm-based player and if his touch gets affected, then it will be difficult."
Squads
India
Virat Kohli (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill
South Africa
Faf du Plessis (capt), Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second
With inputs from AFP
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Visakhapatnam: South African captain Faf du Plessis has "learnt" his lessons from the disastrous tour of India four years ago and hopes the team's young members will emerge as improved cricketers after the current Test series, beginning on Wednesday.
South Africa had no answer to the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, losing the four-match series 0-3. Du Plessis himself had a tough time, scoring just 60 runs in seven innings.
Faf du Plessis had a poor run with bat in 2015, scoring just 60 runs in seven innings. @OfficialCSA
"What Test cricket in general does to you is if there is a flaw in your game, it exposes it. Obviously last time we came here as a batting unit and personally myself found it difficult in tough conditions. The fact is that I needed to get better from a defensive and technical point of view to adapt to play in tough conditions," Du Plessis said on the eve of the first Test.
He is among the five squad members who had toured in 2015. The other four are Kagiso Rabada, Dean Elgar, Temba Bavuma and Vernon Philander who played just one Test before getting injured.
"It was tough for everyone, but it was huge value for me. After that I started playing spin better. So I think all players have to go through tough times to make them better and understand where their potential weaknesses are. And then either you can disappear or come back stronger."
It is a fresh bunch of players helped by an Indian in Amol Muzumdar, who is South Africa's batting coach for the Test series.
Time is limited but du Plessis said getting local help can only benefit the team.
"It is a different language, different mindset and it is really refreshing to have someone with local knowledge. He has been with us for a short time and we already have had some good conversations.
"The wickets spun more last time, this time it is not expected to turn as much. It was really dry back then and we struggled despite having an experienced line-up and now we have a young looking line up, so there is no baggage.
"These youngsters are motivated to do well in international cricket and this tour will be no different for them," he said.
The series against India will be South Africa's first in the World Test Championship. Following a disappointing World Cup campaign, the team is back on the road and also play England and Australia in the next six months. Du Plessis is looking forward to the challenge.
"It is a good time to be involved with a young team. A lot of senior players are out and leadership group has changed completely. Time to grow new leaders, the next set of pacers, the next Hashim Amla. I am excited about that."
With Philander amongst the runs in the warm-up game, South Africa are looking at playing five bowlers for the first Test.
"That is definitely one of the options. India has always been a place where you can score in the first innings but in the second innings, it can get challenging and you need ample bowling resources for the first innings.
"You need more than three or four bowlers. Generally taking 20 wickets wins you Test matches."
While South Africa struggled against the spinners last time around and are expected to have a tough time again, du Plessis feels their number one spinner Keshav Maharaj can trouble the high-profile Indian batting.
"In the past teams visiting India used reverse swing and extra pace to their advantage. Last time here we felt the ball spun quite a bit and the spinner we have in Maharaj is as good as anyone in the world. He would just be much as a challenge for Indian batters.
"Yes we do have some pace but is about having accurate pace. In subcontinent just pace itself doesn't count for much. You need to be accurate for a long time and make sure that ball does something through the air.
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One-day big hitter Rohit Sharma will stake a claim to become India's first-choice opening Test batsman when they start a series against South Africa on Wednesday looking for a record-breaking win.
Victory in the three-match series would see India break the record of 10 straight home series wins they currently hold with Australia.
Much focus in the first Test in Visakhapatnam will be on the 32-year-old Sharma – a star of India's limited-overs teams as well as skipper of the Mumbai Indians who won this year's Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament.
File image of Indian cricket team. Reuters
Sharma has not been a Test regular, however. The last of his 27 Test caps since 2013 was in Australia last year.
He now has a new chance, replacing the out-of-form KL Rahul, as the opening positions remain a problem for India.
"He has worked so hard and if he gets an opportunity, I am sure he will do well," vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said of Sharma.
"We all know the quality he has. He is simply special."
The new Sharma experiment has had a disastrous start, however -- he was dismissed for a duck on the second ball he faced in a practice game against the South Africans.
Natural runs
India batting great VVS Laxman said Sharma needs to stick to his natural flair while opening in the longer format.
"If you tweak your natural game too much, then you will not get the results as your mind gets cluttered and you tend to lose your rhythm," said Laxman, a middle-order batsman who was forced to open for India.
"I can admit that my flow was affected when I opened. Rohit is a rhythm-based player and if his touch gets affected, then it will be difficult."
Here's all you need to know about the first Test between India and South Africa:
When is the 1st Test between India and South Africa?
The 1st Test between India and South Africa is from 2nd October to 6th October.
Where is the match being played?
The 1st Test between India and South Africa will be played at Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.
What time does the match begin?
The day's play begins at 9.30 AM IST with the toss taking place at 9 AM on the first day.
Which TV channels will broadcast the match?
The match will be shown live on TV by Star Sports India Sports Network.
How do I watch online the match online?
The match will be live-streamed on Hotstar. You can also catch live updates on Firstpost.com.
Squads
India
Virat Kohli (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill
South Africa
Faf du Plessis (capt), Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second
With inputs from AFP
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India will begin the three-match Test series against South Africa in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
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Rohit Sharma has been called up as opener for the first Test against South Africa at Vizag and Virat Kohli said that using him at the top of the order was something Team India has been contemplating for a while now.
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Karachi: Pakistan batsman Babar Azam has said he has made some tactical changes to his game in order to hit more boundaries in the white-ball formats. Babar, 24, scored his 11th ODI hundred in the second one-day international against Sri Lanka on Monday.
File image of Babar Azam. AFP
"There is some tactical switch because I think I need to charge more and I am focussing more on power hitting during practice these days," he told reporters. The youngster, who became the fastest Pakistani to reach 1000 runs in a calendar year, has already got 11 centuries and 15 fifties in 73 ODIs.
Babar, who was also a standout performer for his country in the World Cup, admitted that his long stint in English county cricket helped him improve a lot. "Playing in English county cricket has made a big difference to me. I have gained confidence as a batsman and I am able to give 100 percent in every match," he said.
Babar played a total of 14 matches in different formats in English county after the World Cup. "My focus is on the given match and I want my team to win because of my batting," he added.
Babar said he felt no pressure playing his first ODI in Karachi in 10 years time as he had already experienced the atmosphere at the National Stadium having played in the Pakistan Super League and the T20 series against West Indies last year. "We all have missed playing at home and I am excited to be playing and scoring a hundred in front of my crowd," he said.
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