New Delhi [India], Feb 1: South African Test opener Aiden Markram will replace injured batsman Mr 360 degree aka AB de Villiers for the first One-Day International (ODI) of the six-match series against India at Kingsmead on Thursday. The Proteas picked Markram to give him his second ODI cap ahead of uncapped Khaya Zondo for the match. Markram, 23, will bat at number four for de Villiers who has been ruled out of the first three ODIs due to a finger injury.  

South African swashbuckling batsman de Villiers sustained an injury to his right index finger during the third Test match against India and is hopeful to return for the fourth 'Pink' ODI on February 10. After the visitor bounce back in the final test against Proteas. Men in blue is all set to take on Proteas in the first ODI. From the current squad, only battle-hardened Mahendra Singh Dhoni has witnessed the slaughter in each of the three occasions. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been part of the drubbing twice, but more importantly, India’s bowling artillery barring Mohammed Shami is yet to play an ODI in South Africa. .

ODI Team Squad:

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni, Shreyas Iyer, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur.

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Lungisani Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Khayelihle Zondo.