The Proteas and India will both be testing their strength in depth when they meet in two white-ball series, starting with a T20I at Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday.
Three T20Is will be followed by three ODIs during a tour which is a financial lifesaver for CSA.
The cash-strapped hosts stand to earn in excess of R1-billion ($53-million), mainly from TV rights, which is far in excess of income from any other incoming tours.
“It will obviously help us balance the books but it is not just us, every country needs India, purely based on the broadcast revenues,” said Pholetsi Moseki, chief executive of CSA.
Both teams will be without key players for the white-ball games, ahead of two Tests later in the tour.
South Africa’s ODI and Test captain Temba Bavuma and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will miss all the limited-overs matches.
Fast bowlers Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen will play only in the first two T20Is before returning to their franchises to play in domestic four-day cricket ahead of the Tests, while Lungi Ngidi has been ruled out of the T20I series with a left lateral ankle sprain.
Regular India captain Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli will also miss the limited-overs games, while recent T20I captain Hardik Pandya is injured.
Suryakumar Yadav, fresh from leading India to a 4-1 T20I home series win against Australia, will captain the T20I side while KL Rahul will be in charge for the ODI matches.
With the T20 World Cup due to be played in the West Indies and United States in June, the three-match T20I series provides an opportunity for fringe players to press their claims.
Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter said he wanted to continue to build a core group of players to capitalise on the momentum achieved during the recent ODI World Cup, where South Africa reached the semi-finals.
“The move [to rest some players] has presented opportunities for others who have been performing well on domestic level,” said Walter.
India were outstanding in the 50-overs World Cup before losing to Australia in the final.
But their T20I side is less settled, although World Cup stars Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj return to the format after being rested from the series against Australia.
Proteas squad: Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Lizaad Williams.
India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan (wkt), Mukesh Kumar, Jitesh Sharma (wkt), Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav.
T20I series fixtures:
1st T20I: Sunday, 10 December, Kingsmead, Durban
2nd T20I: Tuesday, 12 December, St George’s Park, Gqeberha
3rd T20I: Thursday, 14 December, Wanderers, Johannesburg
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: CSA
