IND vs SA, 1st ODI: Here’s why Temba Bavuma won’t play today’s match in Ranchi

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma is absent from the first ODI of the three-match series against India at Ranchi’s JSCA International Stadium, with Aiden Markram as stand-in skipper after South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Why isn’t Temba Bavuma playing today’s match against India?

Bavuma, who led South Africa to their first Test series win in India since 2000, woke up unwell on the matchday, prompting the team management to rest him as a precautionary measure ahead of the remaining ODIs in Raipur and Visakhapatnam. This follows his recent heavy workload across formats, including the Tests, where he averaged 45.50 with a gritty century. Markram, a seasoned deputy with previous ODI captaincy experience, takes charge of the series opener, batting at number three in the predicted line-up alongside Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton at the top.

Despite the change of captaincy, South Africa arrive with confidence due to their dominance in the red ball, with strong top order and seam options such as Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi to exploit Ranchi’s seam-friendly pitch and potential dew. Bavuma’s availability for subsequent matches remains likely, but his absence will test the squad’s depth in this white-ball reset for India after their Test loss.

Apart from Bavuma, South Africa have also decided to rest left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who played a crucial role in the historic Test series win on Indian soil.

“We’ll go bowling first. I spent a few evenings here… dew at night and it will be a little easier to bat at night,” said Markram after winning the toss.

“Only one spinner in Subrayen, I will bowl a bit – Temba and Maharaj are rested, four seamers for us today,” he added.

Also READ: IND vs SA, 1st ODI – Ranchi Pitch Report, JSCA International Stadium Complex Stats and Records

IND vs SA: Playing XI of both teams

India: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.

South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (c), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Prenelan SubrayenNandre Burger, Ottneil Baartman

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