India have won the toss and will bat first. They bring in Munaf Patel for Piyush Chawla, while South Africa have sensibly decided not to risk Imran Tahir's injured finger. He is replaced by Johan Botha. I wonder if they will open the bowling with a spinner today or go straight in with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.
The cheer when India won the toss was incredible, almost as loud as when Bangladesh did in Chittagong yesterday. Every World Cup has an innovation, from pinch-hitting to opening the bowling with a spinner; this year it seems to be cheering like a madman when your side wins the toss.
India Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni (c/wk), Pathan, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Nehra, Patel.
South Africa Smith (c), Amla, Kallis, de Villiers, Duminy, du Plessis, van Wyk (wk), Peterson, Botha, Morkel, Steyn.
I certainly know how I felt about the tournament when my alarm ripped me from my happy place at 6am this morning – and you can read those four-letter thoughts in Adult OBO, our new post-watershed service that is a bit like late-night Hollyoaks only without, well, y'know – but then, on the way into work, I started to think about the humdinger that awaits us in Nagpur today.
India v South Africa is the weightiest clash of the tournament so far. If we roll all cricket up into one big ball, they are undeniably the two best sides in the world. While this match almost certainly means nothing in terms of qualification – both sides could still go out, but it would take an absurd set of results for that to happen – it is a decent chance to put down a marker for the knockout stages, and, in all probability, avoid Australia in the quarter-finals.
It pits the most formidable batting line-up in the world against the best and most varied bowling attack. Specifically, it gives us the unique thrill of watching one little master, Dale Steyn, take on India's little masters, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. That's a contest for the ages. If India's innings should be the more exciting, then South Africa's should be the more instructive, for that is where each side's main concern lies: India with their fifth bowler in particular, and South Africa with their unusually fragile lower middle order.
Both sides have had setbacks, against England of all teams, and whoever loses today will approach the quarter-finals with a fair deal of trepidation. In that respect, and even though it amounts to the same thing, this is psychologically a mustn't-lose game rather than a must-win game. Which is a nice positive note on which to begin today's coverage.
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