India vs South Africa, 1st ODI: Toss result and playing 11s for today’s match, umpires list, and pitch report

Team India will play their first ODI since the 2023 ODI World Cup against South Africa on Sunday, December 17 at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. KL Rahul will lead the Men in Blue in the three-match affair, which will feature a host of young players from both teams.

The Indian outfit suffered a humiliating 3-0 whitewash in their last ODI series in South Africa almost two years ago. While the focus lies on the upcoming two-match Test series, scheduled to begin from Decemebr 26 onwards, the ODI series comes across as an excellent opportunity to test the bench strength again.

The Proteas will be led by Aiden Markram, who will not have some of the regular first-team players' serviced in the series. Temba Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen have all been rested, while Lungi Ngidi is recovering from an injury.

Today's IND vs SA toss result

South Africa won the toss and skipper Aiden Markram chose to bat. Here's what he said about the pitch and his team:

"It is a used wicket, so, would like to bat first and play the spinners when it's slightly better. Nandre Burger makes his debut and Tony de Zorzi comes back in. It's great that the guys get the opportunities to stake a claim in such wonderful atmospheres. Always special to play on Pink Day!"

Team India skipper KL Rahul said:

"We would have batted first too. But, we will try to put the ball in the right place and keep things tight. Sai Sudharsan plays for the first time today, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, Tilak Varma, all these players are playing. The boys know how to handle the pressure. The IPL experience of rising to the occasion will surely help."

IND vs SA - Today's match playing XIs

Team India playing XI: KL Rahul (c/wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar

South Africa playing XI: Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi

Today's IND vs SA pitch report

The surface is the same one used in the third T20I between the India and South Africa. That particular pitch offered a lot of turn, with Kuldeep Yadav picking up a five-wicket haul. Stating that the used surface is quite dry, Pommie Mbangwa said in his pitch report:

"This pitch was used in the last game, the dimensions remain the same as that of T20 game, they are 77m straight hit and 69m square. Looking down at the surface, it's a dry surface as expected and it's a used pitch. If they bat first, put runs on the board, there are a few cracks that haven't opened up, the grass can hold it together. 270 is a good score, last five game 298 and you don't want anything below that in a 50 over cricket with just few fielders outside the circle in the last powerplay. Bat first, gets lots of runs."

IND vs SA - Today's match umpires

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough, Bongani Jele

Third umpire: Ahsan Raza

Match Referee: Chris Broad

Who will win the first ODI between India and South Africa to claim an early series lead? Let us know what you think.