IND vs SA, 1st ODI: Here’s why Temba Bavuma is not playing 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 stepping in as stand-in skipper after South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Why Temba Bavuma is not 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 match day, prompting team management to rest him as a precaution 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 prior ODI captaincy experience, takes charge for the series opener, batting at number three in the predicted lineup alongside Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton up top.

Despite the captaincy change, South Africa arrives with confidence from their red-ball dominance, boasting a strong top order and seam options like Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi to exploit Ranchi’s seam-friendly pitch and potential dew. Bavuma’s availability for subsequent games remains likely, but his absence tests squad depth in this white-ball reset for India post 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 bowl first. Spent a couple of evenings here… dew at night time and it’ll be slightly easier to bat at night,” said Markram after winning the toss.

“Just one spinner in Subrayen, I will bowl a bit – Temba and Maharaj have been 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 Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Ottneil Baartman

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