Rohit Sharma, captain of the Indian cricket team, made a surprising decision to omit Ravindra Jadeja from the playing XI for the 1st Test match against South Africa. Jadeja was replaced by experienced spinner Ashwin due to a back spasm. The BCCI confirmed Jadeja’s absence in a tweet. Sharma emphasized the quality of Ashwin as a spinner and mentioned that Prasidh was making his Test debut along with other pacers. The teams’ playing XIs were also listed for the match.