South Africa opt to bat in second Test

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat in the second cricket Test against India here on Saturday.

In the absence of pace spearhead Dale Steyn, who was ruled out of the series with a heel injury, the hosts have debuted pacer Lungi Ngidi.

India, meanwhile made three changes to their playing XI, bringing in opener Lokesh Rahul for Shikhar Dhawan while pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar made way for veteran Ishant Sharma. Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha suffered a minor niggle and has been replaced by Parthiv Patel.

The South Africans are already 1-0 up in the three-Test rubber, having won the opener by 72 runs in Cape Town.

India: Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma.

South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis (Captain), Quinton de Kock (WK), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Morne Morkel.