Bulls get their captain back
Odendaal missed his team's previous two Super Rugby clashes against the Lions and Reds due to injury.
He takes over the captaincy from Handré Pollard and the inside centre berth from Johnny Kotze for this match, the first of two the visitors will play in New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Bulls head coach Mitchell opted for Divan Rossouw on the left wing, where he replaces Duncan Matthews in the other change to the backline.
Up front, Trevor Nyakane comes in for Frans van Wyk at tighthead and Thembelani Bholi is back at flank, with Hanro Liebenberg moving to No.8 where he takes over from injured Nicholas de Jager.
De Jager had to return home due to a broken rib and his replacement, Tim Agaba, is bracketed as a replacement with Jason Jenkins, who played off the bench in Brisbane.
A final call on Jenkins, who has a niggle, will be made closer to the game and if he is ruled out, Agaba is due to make his Super Rugby debut for the Bulls.
Mitchell also tweaked his replacements for this clash.
Conraad van Vuuren is back on the bench in place of promoted Nyakane, while Manie Libbok is another potential debutant for the Bulls. He comes in Marnitz Boshoff, while Kotze will cover the midfield and outside backs.
Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Divan Rossouw, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Rudolph Snyman, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Jason Jenkins/Tim Agaba, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Johnny Kotze.
Date: Friday, March 16
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-off: 19.35 (06.35 GMT; 08.35 SA Time)
Referee: TBC
Assistant referee: TBC
TMO: TBC
