First Test between India and South Africa: With rain predicted for Day 1, India loses three wickets to SA

 First Test between India and South Africa: India loses three wickets to SA as the possibility of rain looms Weather reports from earlier in the day suggested that the entire day might be rained out. Tuesday is expected to have a high possibility of rain, with a 96% chance of precipitation and a 38% chance of thunderstorms, according to Accuweather.com.

# OVERVIEW

# At the SuperSport Park in Centurion, Temba Bavuma of South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first.

# Wet spots on the outfield caused the first Test match between South Africa and India to start later than scheduled.

# India has lost seven of the eight Test series they have played in South Africa and has yet to win a series there.

First Test between India and South Africa: Rain clouds will likely dampen the enthusiasm of cricket fans in both countries when the match takes place at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Wet spots on the outfield caused the first Test match between South Africa and India to start later than scheduled. The scheduled throw, scheduled for 1 pm IST (9:30 am local time), was rescheduled. Later, after winning the toss, India was put to bat first by the Proteas.

With 14 overs remaining, India is at 24/2. Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli are at the wicket. 

The weather forecast earlier in the day suggested that it might rain all day. With a 96% likelihood of precipitation and a 38% risk of thunderstorms, Accuweather.com had forecast a high possibility of rain for Tuesday. It stated that Centurion should expect four hours of rain on Tuesday.

According to the weather forecast, Centurion might get thunderstorms between the hours of 7 and 9 AM local time, then heavy rain in the afternoon. It has been raining nonstop for the past two days in the city.

Brain Bloy, the curator of wickets, had warned that the opening two days of the Boxing Day Test would likely see a lot of rain. He had predicted frigid weather for the Test, saying, "I don't know what conditions will be like, whether we will get play on Day 1."

"The prognosis for Days 1 and 2 is displayed to you. It's not very appealing. There will be some purchases for spinners and offer turn and bounce because the sun will be out for four days. However, Bloy told PTI last week that she wasn't sure how accurate the weather forecast would be because there would be a lot of rain.

After the World Cup fiasco, Rohit Sharma is back to guide the Indian team against the Proteas. Temba Bavuma, the team's normal captain, has South Africa playing at full strength as well. Some of the Indian team's most important players, though, will be absent, including wicketkeeper batsman Ishan Kishan (who has requested to be excused from the series), Mohammed Shami (who has been sidelined due to an ankle injury), and Ruturaj Gaikwad (who has been ruled out due to a finger injury). Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were also removed from the team.

India has lost seven of the eight Test series they have played in South Africa, and they have yet to win one. "Runs on the board" will be critical to India's prospects of winning the first Test, according to Rohit, who stated as much before the toss today.

In spite of their historical performance, Rohit said, India has a chance to win the series.

"We have great expectations each time we visit this place. In the past two tours, we've been quite close. With our team and the composition of our team, we feel fairly confident," Rohit remarked.

South Africa (Starting XI): Temba Bavuma (c), Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (w), Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, and Nandre Burger

India (Playing XI): Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w),