The hosts are without regular captain Shubman Gill for the series decider.
All-rounder Senuran Muthusamy returned to the national team on Saturday, as the Proteas boosted their spin options for the second Test against India in Guwahati.
Muthusamy replaced seam bowler and fellow all-rounder Corbin Bosch in the SA team from the first Test in Kolkata, which South Africa won by 30 runs last week.
India, meanwhile, made two changes to their team.
Regular captain Shubman Gill was not available after picking up a neck injury in the first Test, while Axar Patel was dropped.
They were replaced by Sai Sudharsan and Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Rishabh Pant was set to captain the side.
Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to bat first on day one, which was set to start at 5.30am (SA time).
Teams
South Africa
Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma, Tony de Zorzi, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj
India
KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
