South African off-spinner Johan Botha [ Images ] was selected to make his debut in the first one-day international against India [ Images ] in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Botha began his career as a seamer before switching to spin over a year ago and has modelled his action on Indian counterpart Harbhajan Singh [ Images ].

The bowler took three wickets in a warm-up one-day victory against the Hyderabad Cricket Association XI on Monday.

South African captain Graeme Smith [ Images ] won the toss and asked India to bat first in the opening game of the five-match series.

The visiting Proteas, who have never won a one-day series in India, are hoping to extend their 19-match unbeaten streak that stretches back to January.

India, fresh from a 6-1 home series victory over Sri Lanka [ Images ] last week, included two spinners, left-arm Murali Kartik [ Images ] and Harbhajan, along with three seamers.

Teams:

India: Rahul Dravid [ Images ] (captain), Virender Sehwag [ Images ], Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ], Yuvraj Singh [ Images ], M Kaif, M S Dhoni [ Images ], Irfan Pathan [ Images ], Ajit Agarkar [ Images ], Harbhajan Singh, M Kartik, R P Singh, Gautam Gambhir [ Images ] (Supersub)

South Africa [ Images ]: G Smith (captain), A B de Villiers, J Kallis, A Prince, J Kemp, M Boucher, S Pollock, J Botha, C Langeveldt, M Ntini, A Nel, J Ontong (Supersub)