South Africa elect to field

South African off-spinner Johan Botha was selected to make his debut in the first one-day international against India 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.

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 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 last week, included two spinners, left-arm Murali Kartik and Harbhajan, along with three seamers.

Teams:

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

South Africa: 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)