Former captain AB de Villiers will open the batting in South Africa's Twenty20 International series against Pakistan, which gets underway at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday.

De Villiers has stepped to the crease at the helm of the order in 36 ODIs, but never in the shortest format of the international game. This weekend, however, will mark a change in approach.

"We just feel that AB is one of the best batsmen in the world. He is one of those guys who on his day can score a century. There are not a lot of players like that in the world and we feel AB is definitely that, an x-factor player," said captain Faf du Plessis, who succeed de Villiers on a full-time basis earlier this month.

"There are only a handful of players in the world that can score centuries up front. Without putting any extra pressure on AB he is a fantastic player, he is a great striker of the ball, he plays proper cricket shots and he can also take the game away from the opposition."

Du Plessis confirmed the uncapped Kyle Abbot will make his debut during the two-match series, in a bid to establish a new death bowler for an attack sans the services of the rested Dale Steyn and injured Morne Morkel.

"That's a very important thing that we've looked at in terms of our shorter form of the game. Something that we can really improve on is our death bowling and our skills at the death," added du Plessis.

"Yes, we certainly feel Kyle brings that, he has been excellent in domestic cricket with bowling at the death. So, we will definitely use him and see how he goes through the series."

Left-arm seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe, meanwhile, has recovered from an ankle injury - and is likely to be named in Friday's XI. Spinner Robin Peterson, however, is nursing a stiff neck - and will have to undergo a fitness test