India kick start their 3-match Test series against South Africa by locking horns with the Proteas in the series opener at Visakhapatnam in a short while from now.The formidable Indian team  who have won ten bilateral series on the trot on home soil would be eyeing a record extending 11th successive win at home. India would fancy their chances against a new look Proteas side who are in rebuilding mode after retirements of couple of their mainstays.

Toss Update: Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first on what as per him seemed a good deck to bat on  at Vizag. India would have a new opener at the top of the order with Rohit Sharma opening the innings in red ball cricket for the first time  with Mayank Agarwal.

The Indian think tank have gone ahead with the experienced Wriddhiman Saha ahead of the young Rishabh Pant to don the wicket keeping gloves. Ace spinner R Aswhin makes a comeback into the playing eleven after missing out on the 2-Test against West Indies.

Considering the nature of the wicket which seems to assist spinners as the match progresses to Day 4 and Day 5, the South Africa have also loaded their side with three spinners - Senuran Muthusamy, Keshav Maharaj, Dane Piedt.

Kohli: No brainer, going to bat. Looks a good wicket. Will play well for the first couple of days. Nature of the pitch is that it'll get slower after that. Great opportunity for Rohit at the top of the order. He's excited to get the role clarity. It's a new opportunity for him. According to me, Saha is the best keeper in the world. We were waiting for the right moment to bring him back. They had more experienced players back then. It's going to be a hard grind for sure.

du Plessis: Pretty obvious, quite a dry pitch. Our coin toss record in the subcontinent isn't the best. First innings is going to be very important. We've lost a few Test players, even in the last year or so. Fresh start for a lot of new faces. Very young group. Nice challenge for us. These guys will be the next Dale Steyns and the next Hashim Amlas. Good to be at the start of the journey for them, have to try and play a mentor-ship role to get them through. The dryness of the surface, we've gone in with two seamers, one all-rounder, and three spinners.

Playing XI for India and South Africa

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami

South Africa (Playing XI): Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Theunis de Bruyn, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Vernon Philander, Senuran Muthusamy, Keshav Maharaj, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada