After winning the toss in the opening Test match against South Africa, India revealed their playing XI with Ajinkya Rahane included as Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer missed out. The news received a mixed reaction on Twitter as some fans felt that Kohli and Rahul Dravid needed to bank on experience while others said that Vihari "deserved" to be selected. Supporting Vihari, one fan said, "You're talking about Shreyas, Think about Vihari, didn't do anything wrong. Was only played outside India, was sent to SA as Part of India A, scored decently and still sitting out. Out of him Iyer and Rahane, he was most deserving".
For the first South Africa Test, the Indian team management decided to go with KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal as openers. Regular opener Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the series due to a left hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, the other batters are Cheteshwar Pujara, Kohli, Rahane and Rishabh Pant. The bowling department sees one spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI and five fast bowlers (Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj).
Another fan rallied behind Vihari and stated that his form with India A recently should have been enough to guarantee his selection.
"HATE IT MAN. HATE IT. Yes I know Rahane has done well in SA before but he can't be in the team for that lone reason. Vihari, who played a million balls & match saving knocks in India A series have been left out JUST LIKE THAT", the fan tweeted.
One user called Kohli's decision "bold" but also called it "a conservative line of thinking".
"Bold decision to back Ajinkya Rahane ahead of Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer? Time will tell. At the moment, it seems it is a conservative line of thinking", the user said.
Here are the other reactions:
Having won the toss and electing to bat, the visitors will be aiming to start well and post a good first innings score.
India have never won a Test series in South Africa and their previous visit ended in a 1-2 defeat in 2018.