Why has India opted for three spinners in first T20I against South Africa?

Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bowl first as India takes on South Africa in the first T20I in Durban on Friday. Ramandeep Singh, Yash Dayal, and Vijaykumar Vyshak will have to wait for their debuts. The last time India and South Africa played a T20I match was the finals of the World Cup in June. 

India’s last game against Bangladesh where they scored 297 runs on the board. Abhishek Sharma will open the innings with Sanju Samson with the latter scoring a century in just 40 balls. One of the most surprising calls made by India was to go in with three spinners. 

It was a strange decision, considering that Durban is known to help the pacers. There are also rains predicted later in the game which could make gripping the ball difficult for the bowlers. Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, and Varun Chakravarthy are the three spinners with Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan as the pacers. 

South Africa opt to bowl first in Durban

Speaking after winning the toss, South African skipper Aiden Markram said, “We are going to bowl first. Looks a pretty good wicket. There has been some rain around this week and if there's moisture we want to make use of it. Fantastic opportunity for guys to make their debuts at home and it is a great time for them to enjoy the game. We are quite a competitive team and the discussions have been about how can we get positive results.”

Surprisingly, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that he would have batted first anyway. “We were looking to bat first. The wicket looks nice, better than the practice wicket and we will try to put runs on the board. The guys in the dressing room have made my job easier, the fearless approach they play with for their respective franchises and have brought the same approach to the team,” he said. 

South Africa XI - Ryan Rickelton(WK), Aiden Markram(C), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Patrick Kruger, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter

India XI - Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(WK), Suryakumar Yadav(C), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan