Rabada out as India reveal selection shock for first Test

South Africa have suffered a massive blow with key pacer Kagiso Rabada ruled out of the first Test against India due to injury as the hosts named four spinners in their line-up.

Rabada hurt his rib at training in the lead-up to the Eden Gardens contest, with Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma revealing at the toss that his star pacer would miss the crucial ICC World Test Championship contest.

There was further surprises as India named their XI for the match, with Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel all included in the side.

Sundar is named to bat at No.3 for India, with Dhruv Jurel at seven and Axar at eight ahead of Kuldeep, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

The absence of Rabada wasn't the only big news for South Africa, with spinner Senuran Muthusamy left out of the Proteas' XI despite a Player of the Series performance in their most recent Test series in Pakistan.

Instead the Proteas have opted for all-rounder Corbin Bosch alongside fellow quick Marco Jansen, with Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj expected to perform the majority of the slow bowling across the match.

Bavuma won the toss and elected to bat first, with both teams chasing a positive result in the race for the World Test Championship Final in 2027.

India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

South Africa XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj