India give SA 'nice challenge' after opting to bat first at Eden

India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa at the Eden Gardens. They have decided to make South Africa do the uncomfortable things. 

Both teams are flying in the ongoing World Cup and have officially qualified for the semi-finals. But South Africa have struggled while chasing. They lost to the Netherlands and made it really difficult for themselves in their successful 271-run chase against Pakistan.

Rohit said it looked like a good pitch but the call didn't have anything to do with the pitch, India just wanted to challenge themselves.

"It'll be a good game, two teams who have played consistent cricket and have topped the table, will be nice to win and go on top," he said.

"The entire team looks forward to play at this historic ground," he added.

Protea skipper Temba Bavuma said they wanted to bat first as well, but now it will be a nice challenge to chase. 

"We would have batted first, but now we need to chase, which will be a nice challenge. We know that's one area where we need to gain more confidence, we'll have to bat with responsibility," Bavuma said.

Both teams are still eyeing that top spot in the points table to head into the knockouts full of confidence. India are unbeaten with seven wins from seven games, but South Africa aren't behind, securing victories in six matches out of seven.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi