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Ranchi: India will bat first against South Africa in the first ODI of the three-match series after the Proteas' stand-in captain Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to field. This was the 19th consecutive toss lost by India in the ODIs, starting with the World Cup 2023 final in November a couple of years ago. Markram was quick to opt to bowl, citing the dew that the players experienced in the last couple of days during evening training sessions and KL Rahul, who returned to India captaincy after close to two years, alluded to the same, while wanting to bowl.

Ranchi has been a high-scoring venue in white-ball cricket, and it will be interesting to see the approach from the Indian top-order, led by openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who will be playing just his second ODI, against the four-man pace attack for the Proteas. Jaiswal will be replacing injured Shubman Gill at the top, while Ruturaj Gaikwad came back into the side, on the back of his consistent run in the A games, replacing Shreyas Iyer.

With Gaikwad and Washington Sundar both playing, Rishabh Pant missed out. Rahul had kept the cards close to his chest on the eve of the clash, while not revealing the playing XI. However, Pant's Instagram post gave a hint that he may not be part of the XI for the first game, and it proved to be such. The bowling line-up had three pacers and three spinners, with Ravindra Jadeja and Sundar being the all-rounders and the latter listed to bat at No 5.

Harshit Rana at eight meant there was some depth to the batting line-up, with Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav to follow. Prasidh Krishna was the third pacer for India, with both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj being rested for the ODI leg of the series. 

On the other hand, Markram confirmed that both Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj were resting, and Prenelan Subrayen was the only spinner in the side, which had four seamers as part of the bowling attack. Ryan Rickelton also returned to the top of the order, while Markram will be taking up thNo.No 3 role. The batting goes up to eight for the Proteas, with Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch both being included in the XI. 

Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock(w), Aiden Markram(c), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Ottneil Baartman