With Ravindra Jadeja missing out in the 1st Test due to injury, Indian management turned to Ravichandran Ashwin as well as handed debut to pacer Prasidh Krishna
At the toss, India captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that they have handed a debut to young pacer Prasidh Krishna whereas Ravindra Jadeja was repaced by Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test match at Centurion.(Scorecard | Live Blog | Full Coverage)
The BCCI later announced that Jadeja faced upper back spasms on the morning of the Test match that led to him sitting out of the 1st Test.
R Ashwin did not play the WTC Final against Australia earlier this year despite the calls for him to start in the playing XI. The offie's last game in the whites came against the West Indies in July during the 2nd Test at Port Of Spain. He picked up three wickets in that game.
Ashwin hasn't played on international front from there point onwards. His major appearance was in the ODI colours in the Australia game at Chennai in October.
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"Ashwin is playing in place of Jadeja. Jaddu had a bit of a back spasm, so Ashwin comes in and he is a quality spinner to have. Prasidh is making his debut, along with the other pacers Shardul, Siraj and Bumrah," Rohit Sharma said at the toss.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma(c), Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger.
Earlier, the toss was delayed due to a wet outfield at SuperSport Park. Ravindra Jadeja misses out due to back and neck spasm as Prasidh Krishna gets the nod.