India welcomed back Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel as South Africa won the toss and chose to bat in the first Test at Eden Gardens on Friday.
Rishabh Pant replaces Nitish Kumar Reddy and resumes keeping duties, while Axar Patel comes in for B Sai Sudharsan as India field four spinners in the game. South Africa miss injured Kagiso Rabada, with Corbin Bosch included.
Playing XIs:
India: Gill (c), Rohit, Sundar, Kohli, Iyer, Jurel (wk), Jadeja, Ashwin, Axar, Kuldeep, Siraj
South Africa: Markram, Rickelton, Mulder, Bavuma (c), de Zorzi, Stubbs, Verreynne (wk), Harmer, Jansen, Bosch, Maharaj