Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has picked his India XI for the first Test against South Africa in Centurion. India are seeking their maiden test series win on South African soil and many believe this is their best chance. Meanwhile, Jaffer has made some interesting selections keeping the playing conditions and the balance of the team in mind.

Talking To ESPN Cricinfo, Wasim Jaffer shared his playing XI for the first Test. He included Ajinkya Rahane and preferred Shreyas Iyer over Hanuma Vihari among the seven batsmen he picked in his XI. 

“KL and Mayank will open. Pujara at number three [and] Virat Kohli at four. I’ll play Ajinkya at number five. There’s a lot of debate regarding his form and between him Shreyas Iyer and Vihari. For the first Test, I’ll definitely prefer Ajinkya because he has the experience, the skill. Yes, his recent form is debatable but he has scored runs in South Africa and knows the conditions well. And he brings a lot more to the table than just batting – [like leadership] when he was the captain [or] as a slip fielder.”

Will Prefer Ajinkya Rahane Because He Has Experience: Wasim Jaffer

“I’ll prefer Shreyas Iyer for number six because of his recent form and how he batted against New Zealand. I’ll prefer him over Vihari. Vihari had a good series with India ‘A’, he made pretty good runs in similar conditions, but that was India ‘A’ series and not Tests. So I’ll prefer somebody who scored runs in Tests. Number seven would be Rishabh Pant, number eight would be Ashwin and nine ten eleven would be Bumrah, Shami and Mohammed Siraj.”

He has picked Ravichandran Ashwin as his number eight in the line up with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Siraj as his three pacers. 

Jaffer spoke about going in with an extra batsman in the testing conditions in South Africa and his selection shows the same.

India made 250+ only once in six innings in SA in 2018. And that's why we lost the series despite taking 20 wickets in all 3 tests. Extra batter is a must in SA. I'd go 7+4 with Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, and Ashwin being the 4 bowlers. #SAvIND

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) December 24, 2021

“India made 250+ only once in six innings in SA in 2018. And that’s why we lost the series despite taking 20 wickets in all 3 tests. Extra batter is a must in SA. I’d go 7+4 with Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, and Ashwin being the 4 bowlers. #SAvIND“ wrote Jaffer on his Twitter account. 

Wasim Jaffer’s playing XI : Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

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