South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bat

12:56 Local Time, 10:56 GMT, 16:26 IST: The preparations for the Champions Trophy scheduled early next year have begun. Pakistan recently played a couple of ODI series against Australia and Zimbabwe which they managed to win after losing the first game. They had rested some of their key players for the Zimbabwe tour but have named a full strength squad for this 3-match series. South Africa, on the other hand, last played an ODI a couple of months back against Ireland and this will be their last series before the big tournament. So they will have to use these games to the best of their ability and ensure they get most out of it. However, they have rested regular skipper Temba Bavuma and are missing some of their key fast bowlers due to various injuries. They come into this series having the T20s 2-0 and would look to carry that momentum into the three games. Pakistan should be used to the conditions by now and pose a greater greater in this format. Toss and teams coming up.. Stay tuned

Preview

South Africa's men's ODI series against Pakistan is lodged between the rock of the Champions Trophy in February and March and the WTC final in June.

These will be the last ODIs the South Africans will be able to play with their full-strength squad before they get to the Champions Trophy, and they could involve several of the players they will depend on to reach and win the WTC final.

But, with five fast bowlers - Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee, Wiaan Mulder, Nandre Burger and Lizaad Williams - laid up by an assortment of injuries, the home side can ill afford another mishap.

Pakistan lost their T20I rubber to the South Africans 2-0, but they will be confident in the longer white-ball format in the wake of rallying from 1-0 down to win the ODI series in Australia and Zimbabwe in the past six weeks.

And, clearly, the visitors are taking this seriously: Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, who were rested for the Zim trip, are back in the squad.

Moreover, Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam were the top three runscorers on either side in Australia, where Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah and Naseem were the leading wicket-takers. Considering South African conditions are similar, and all of those players are in the squad, that's worth noting.

Contests between these teams, whatever the format, are invariably engaging because they pit some of the game's most bristling fast bowlers against some of the most inventive and aggressive batters.

That is less likely to be the case in February, when Pakistan will host a tri-series involving South Africa and New Zealand. The South Africans' squad for that tournament will be impacted by their players' commitments to the SA20.

So there is a reason to pay the coming few days due attention. Although South Africa won both T20Is, those games were alive with possibility and unpredictability. ODIs are not cut from quite the same cloth, but that doesn't count for much when South Africa and Pakistan are the protagonists.

When: December 17, 19 and 22, 2024; 2 PM Local Time (5.30 PM IST)

Where: Boland Park, Paarl; Newlands, Cape Town; Wanderers, Johannesburg

What to expect: Two slow, one fast. Pitches, that is. No rain is forecast for the Paarl and Cape Town games, but there is a 56% prediction that 8.6mm will fall in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Team news:

South Africa: Temba Bavuma will be rested despite being in his best ever batting form. David Miller faces a fitness test on a calf problem, but seems more likely to play than not.

Possible XI: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman

Pakistan: Not for the first time, Pakistan are touring in a state of flux. This time, the resignation of Jason Gillespie as interim white-ball head coach on Friday has caused chaos.

Possible XI: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Tayyab Tahir, Salman Agha, Mohammad Rizwan (c), Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed

What they said:

"It's very likely. The bigger picture we're looking at is what's at stake within the Test arena." - Temba Bavuma suggests multiple players will be rested, putting the series into perspective

"As a head coach you like to have clear communication with your employer, and I was completely and utterly blindsided by a decision to not have a high performance coach or senior assistant coach Tim Nielsen (who) was told his services were no longer required. I had absolutely zero communication from anyone about that and, after a number of other things that had gone on in the previous few months, that was probably the moment I thought 'I'm not really sure if they want me to do this job or not.'" - Jason Gillespie tells the ABC why he quit as Pakistan's interim head coach

Squads:

Pakistan Squad: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Usman Khan, Salman Agha, Irfan Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Tayyab Tahir, Sufiyan Muqeem

South Africa Squad: Ryan Rickelton, Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Ottneil Baartman, Kwena Maphaka