Why are Shardul Thakur and Venkatesh Iyer not playing the 3rd India vs South Africa ODI?

Team India have made sweeping changes to their playing XI for the third ODI against South Africa, with Shardul Thakur, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar all missing out. Deepak Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Jayant Yadav, and Prasidh Krishna have replaced them respectively.

Interim captain KL Rahul didn't explain the specific reasons behind the omissions at the toss. He claimed while a few had 'niggles', others had to make way for the players that the think tank wanted to try out in the dead rubber match.

Some of the changes are on the expected lines. Bhuvneshwar Kumar put up a disappointing comeback in the first two ODIs, bowling poor spells of 0/64 and 0/84 respectively. He lacked pace and failed to extract any help from the surface.

Krishna, who is considered one of India's future pace talents, will play his fourth ODI. The skiddy right-arm seamer made his one-day debut against England last year, impressing with six wickets from three matches at an average of 29.

Ravichandran Ashwin, after being brilliant for the last few months, also looked out of steam in the second ODI, conceding 68 runs from his 10 wicketless overs. Jayant Yadav, who played his first and only ODI in 2016, will bring some fresh legs to the lineup.

Although there hasn't been any confirmation yet, the omissions of Venkatesh Iyer and Shardul Thakur could be a result of injuries.

Thakur was among India's best players in the first two games, reveling in his new all-rounder role with knocks of 50 (43) and 40 (38), while also contributing decently with the ball. The 30-year-old's workload has been immense on the tour and he deserves some rest before the home season.

Iyer, meanwhile, has a huge role to play in India's future plans and, despite his failures in the first two games, it's unlikely he'll be dropped from the team. Both Deepak Chahar and Suryakumar Yadav have established names in the IPL. India will hope their experience and ingenuity can help them win their first match of the series.

India win the toss and opt to bowl first

Rahul won the toss and opted to bowl first at Newlands. He reasoned that the Centurion strip was "sticky" and the visitors would try to get some wickets upfront.

South Africa made just one change in the team, replacing spinner Tabraiz Shamsi with pacer Dwaine Pretorius.