Publications
Partners
Cape Town - South Africa gave Lungi Ngidi his Test debut in place of the injured Dale Steyn as the second Test against India at Centurion got under way on Saturday.
LIVE: Proteas v India, 2nd Test - Day 1
Ngidi, 21, played in three Twenty20 internationals last season, but has played in only nine first-class matches, taking 31 wickets at an average of 20.45.
South Africa won the toss and decided to bat after opting for a four-pronged pace attack.
India made three changes. Lokesh Rahul replaced Shikhar Dhawan as an opening batsman and fast bowler Ishant Sharma came in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. There was an injury-enforced change with Parthiv Patel replacing wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who has a hamstring injury.
South African captain Faf du Plessis said the history of the ground favoured teams batting first.
"It is usually slow on the first day, then gets a bit quicker, with a few cracks opening up later in the match," he said.
Indian captain Virat Kohli admitted he would also have batted first, saying: "The pitch looks really dry, it is completely different to what it was two days ago. They have taken a lot of the grass off."
South Africa lead the three-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test in Cape Town by 72 runs.
Teams:
South Africa
Faf du Plessis (captain), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungi Ngidi
India
Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Umpires: Michael Gough (ENG), Paul Reiffel (AUS)
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (both ENG)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)
