India vs South Africa: B Sai Sudharsan makes debut for Men in Blue as Proteas bat in 'Pink ODI'

B Sai Sudharsan finally got to don the coveted blue jersey on Sunday as India handed an international debut to the Tamil Nadu and Gujarat Titans top-order batter in the first of three ODIs against South Africa in Johannesburg. Sai Sudharsan is one of the two players making their debut in the ‘Pink ODI’ at Jo’burg’s Wanderers Stadium — the other being Proteas bowling all-rounder Nandre Burger, who had earlier made his T20I debut at the same venue on Thursday. Burger ended up dismissing Indian rising star Rinku Singh in his maiden international outing. Sai Sudharsan had a terrific run with the bat for the Titans in the 2023 season of the Indian Premier League, scoring 362 runs in eight games across the season at a superb average of 51.71. That included a 96 in the final against Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad. He has also been a prolific run-scorer for Tamil Nadu in the domestic circuit, scoring 1,269 runs in 25 appearances at an average of 60.42 that included a score of 125 against Goa in the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy.

📸 📸 That Moment when @sais_1509 received his #TeamIndia cap 🧢 from captain @klrahul! 👏 👏

A moment to cherish for the youngster! 👌 👌

Go well! 👍 👍#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/opR6AP9h7Z

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 17, 2023

Also returning to action for the Men in Blue are spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel and wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson. Axar is playing for the first time since suffering an injury in the Asia Cup Super Four clash against Bangladesh, which forced him to miss India’s World Cup campaign for which he had originally been named in the squad. Samson too hasn’t represented the Men in Blue since the T20I tour of Ireland in August, and his inclusion in the XI means Rinku, who has virtually cemented his place in the Indian middle-order in the shortest format, will have to wait a little longer to make his ODI debut. The Proteas, who are donning pink kits for the fixture instead of the usual green with a splash of gold, also included Tony de Zorzi and Wiaan Mulder in their lineup. Both opener de Zorzi and all-rounder Mulder haven’t represented their nation since the home series against West Indies in March. While Aiden Markram continues to lead South Africa after having done so in the T20Is as well, wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul takes over the role from Suryakumar Yadav for the ODI leg of the tour before passing the reins to Rohit Sharma for the Test series. Teams: South Africa: 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 India: KL Rahul(wk/c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar