No debutants in India's playing XI as South Africa opt to bowl in first T20I

NEW DELHI: Team India went with the tried and tested set of players as they made no big changes in their playing XI against South Africa in the first T20I at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday.

South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bowl against India. Both the teams would look to set the tone with a win in the opening game of the 4-match series.

As expected, fast bowler Vijaykumar Vyshak and batting all-rounder Ramandeep Singh still have to wait for their India debut, while hosts South Africa have handed a debut to 21-year-old all-rounder Andile Simelane.

"We are going to bowl first. Looks a pretty good wicket. There has been some rain around this week and if there's moisture we want to make use of it. Fantastic opportunity for guys to make their debuts at home and it is a great time for them to enjoy the game. We are quite a competitive team and the discussions have been how can we get positive results," Markram said after winning the toss.

"We were looking to bat first. The wicket looks nice, better than the practice wicket and we will try to put runs on the board. The guys in the dressing room have made my job easier, the fearless approach they play with for their respective franchises and have brought the same approach to the team," India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said at the toss.

TEAMS:South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton(w), Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Patrick Kruger, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi PeterIndia (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan