Tendulkar, who no longer plays in T20 Internationals, was expectedly left out of the 15-member Indian squad which has all the other players in the team for the Asia Cup starting in Bangladesh on Sunday.
Karnataka batsman Uthappa had done well in the Vizay Hazare Trophy with two centuries in his name. Young Delhi batsman Virat Kohli, who was made vice-captain of the ODI team for the Asia Cup, will also be the deputy to Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the one-off T20 Internationals, a BCCI release issued by its Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said.
The one-off T20 International in South Africa at the Wanderers ground will be held after the March 11-22 Asia Cup and precede the Indian Premier League T20 competition commencing on April 4.
The T20 International Team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Virat Kohli (V Capt), Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda.