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Indian PM Narendra Modi wishes Virat Kohli and his men as they start their World Cup campaign against South Africa

| @indiablooms | Jun 05, 2019, at 04:14 pm

New Delhi, June 5 (IBNS): Indian PM Narendra Modi wished the national cricket team as they began their World Cup campaign against South Africa on Wednesday.

India is playing their first World Cup match in England where the tournament is taking place this time.

"As #TeamIndia begins it’s #CWC19 journey today, best wishes to the entire Team. May this tournament witness good cricket and celebrate the spirit of sportsmanship," Modi tweeted wishing Virat Kohli and his men.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the Cricket World Cup 2019 at The Rose Bowl here on Wednesday.

South Africa received a huge blow as their main pace bowler Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the entire tournament due to shoulder injury. On the other hand, Lungi Ngidi is yet to recover from his injury to play the match against India.

India have won the World Cup for two times so far. The first time it was lifted by Kapil Dev in 1983 and the second time India won it under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2011. Dhoni, who is not the captain anymore, is still a crucial player for the team. Even during the practice match against Bangladesh, Dhoni slammed a hundred raising the hope of his fans for a great tournament ahead.

Not just his captaincy, Kohli's batting will also be key to India's success in the tournament. Apart from batsmen, the Indian team are backed by a strong bowling unit comprised of frontline pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

South Africa XI: Q de Kock, H Amla, F du Plessis, R van der Dussen, D Miller, JP Duminy, A Phehlukwayo, C Morris, K Rabada, I Tahir, T Shamsi.

India XI: S Dhawan, R Sharma, V Kohli, KL Rahul, K Jadhav, MS Dhoni, H Pandya, B Kumar, K Yadav, Y Chahal, J Bumrah.

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