Australia will take on South Africa with the shadow of the Sandpapergate scandal as both teams play against each other in a Test series since that acrimonious tour.
Even for Dean Elgar, who scored an unbeaten century for South Africa in that 2018 Test match in Cape Town where Australian fielder Cameron Bancroft was caught by TV cameras roughing up the ball with sandpaper hidden in his pants, the ball tampering saga still overshadows his contribution with the bat in that match.
He'll be leading South Africa on Saturday for the first Test at the Gabba, which has been something of a fortress for Australian cricket in the last three decades.
The series involves the top two ranked teams in the World Test Championship.
Pat Cummins' return means there was no room in the lineup for Michael Neser in the only change to the starting lineup, with Scott Boland retained because of his like-for-like bowling qualities with the injured Josh Hazlewood.
Left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc and spinner Nathan Lyon were in that bowling attack in Cape Town in 2018 and still at the forefront now.
Squads
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (C), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
South Africa: Dean Elgar (C), Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, Theunis de Bruyn, Sarel Erwee, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo
When: December 17 to 21
Where to Watch: SONY SPORTS TEN 2 channels
Live Streaming: Sony Liv
Timing: 5:50 am IST onwards
