<p class="title">South Africa captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat in the first test against India at Newlands on Friday in a clash between the top two ranked test nations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A lively wicket has been prepared to benefit the South African pace bowlers but du Plessis said he was taking a gamble that it would be initially softer and slower on the opening day and then quicken up as it dried out later in the day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is tricky one to call," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">South Africa decided to play with four seamers, which means a return to the test arena of Dale Steyn.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 34-year-old, five wickets from becoming South Africa's highest test wicket-taker, has been out for over a year with a shoulder injury.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It means Temba Bavuma has to sit out as the home side sacrificed a batsman in the first match of the three-test series.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India captain Virat Kohli said he would have elected to bowl had he won the toss.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We saw the South Africans warming up with their four seamers, so we wanted to get out on this green wicket and try and make some early inroads into their batting."</p>.<p class="bodytext">India handed a first test cap to bowler Jasprit Bumrah after his good form in recent One day Internationals. They picked three seamers and also have all-rounder Hardik Pandya with a lone specialist spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Teams:</p>.<p class="bodytext">South Africa: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn</p>.<p class="bodytext">India: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. (Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)</p>
<p class="title">South Africa captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat in the first test against India at Newlands on Friday in a clash between the top two ranked test nations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A lively wicket has been prepared to benefit the South African pace bowlers but du Plessis said he was taking a gamble that it would be initially softer and slower on the opening day and then quicken up as it dried out later in the day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is tricky one to call," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">South Africa decided to play with four seamers, which means a return to the test arena of Dale Steyn.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 34-year-old, five wickets from becoming South Africa's highest test wicket-taker, has been out for over a year with a shoulder injury.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It means Temba Bavuma has to sit out as the home side sacrificed a batsman in the first match of the three-test series.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India captain Virat Kohli said he would have elected to bowl had he won the toss.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We saw the South Africans warming up with their four seamers, so we wanted to get out on this green wicket and try and make some early inroads into their batting."</p>.<p class="bodytext">India handed a first test cap to bowler Jasprit Bumrah after his good form in recent One day Internationals. They picked three seamers and also have all-rounder Hardik Pandya with a lone specialist spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Teams:</p>.<p class="bodytext">South Africa: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn</p>.<p class="bodytext">India: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. (Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)</p>