India's journey into their ODI future will hit its first stop during the opening match against South Africa. The match will be held at the Wanderers. With a clutch of new-gen stars lining up to make their presence felt,
Scepticism may be in the air about the relevance of an ODI series with a T20 World Cup in sight, but for India, and to a good extent for the Proteas as well, this face-off signifies the arrival of a fresh line, building up ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
The 50-over format takes a bit of a backseat for much 2022, but this series will give both teams a chance to try out combinations.
Unlike most of the ODI cricket played at the moment, the three-match series between South Africa and India does not form part of the World Cup Super League, with those fixtures said to be slotted in at a later date.
India vs South Africa ODI Series 2025,India vs South Africa ka Match Kab hai,india ka match kab hai
Remember that this series was originally also supposed to include four T20Is, but concerns over the Omicron variant, which delayed India's arrival in the country, chopped those off the schedule.
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The ODIs have stayed, not least because they bring CSA millions of rands through broadcast rights - more than they would get for a shorter format.
But there may end up being some method to this madness as both sides have plenty to work on in this format.
South Africa remain out of the automatic qualification zone for the 2023 World Cup after dropping points in Ireland and Sri Lanka. Given the volume of cricket and restrictions of bio-bubbles, this is a rare occasion when they have something close to a full strength squad at their disposal.
India are also as close to their first choice group of players as possible. They are without their new permanent captain Rohit Sharma, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury, but do have their new permanent coach, Rahul Dravid, at the helm for the first time in an ODI series since being given the job on a full-time basis.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have built lofty castles in white ball formats over the last decade and a half, but now they are in the evening of their careers, and the younger Indian names will perforce need to carry forward their legacy.
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None then will be in more focus than KL Rahul, who will lead India in this three-match series. The wicketkeeper-batter has stood-in as India skipper in the past, but a successful outcome here could potentially land the Bengaluru man the ODI captaincy for a longer duration.
While the likes of Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, if he has recovered from the illness that forced him to sit out of the T20Is, and Shreyas Iyer have showcased their prowess in the past, a few others will be eager to become part of the jostle for space in India’s white ball scheme of things.
Rinku Singh has impressed everyone with his impact outings in the T20Is so far this year, and the team management will now be eager to see him graduate to the 50-over version, and the left-hander could make his ODI debut on the morrow.
The international opportunity might also come in the way of Rajat Patidar, who has been churning out runs in domestic cricket for a few years now, and Bhardwaj Sai Sudarshan, who had a reasonable run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Tamil Nadu, for slots open the middle-order along with Tilak Varma.
The Indian think-tank will hope that these young names could tick a few boxes against a South African attack that has a depleted look to it in the absence of rested Kagiso Rabada and injured Anrich Nortje.
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For South Africa, those combinations will include seeing how the attack holds up in the absence of Kagiso Rabada, who has been released by Cricket South Africa "due to high workloads over a sustained period of time". CSA is giving Rabada time to rest and recover ahead of South Africa's trip to New Zealand next month.
Anrich Nortje is out with a hip injury, but captain Temba Bavuma is back, after breaking his thumb in Sri Lanka, as well as several senior players who were rested for the Netherlands series. Headlining that group is Quinton de Kock, who announced his retirement from Tests after the Boxing Day match, but has returned from paternity leave.
In 34 matches, Markram averages 28.10 and has yet to bring up three-figures, but came close with 96 in Sri Lanka. After struggling for runs in the Tests, Aiden Markram will look to the ODIs to redeem himself and also improve his numbers in this format. The return of specialist openers to the ODI squad and Markam's recent success in T20s at No. 4 suggests that he should be batting in the middle-order in this series, which may give him the opportunity to play himself back into form ahead of a trip to New Zealand and a home series against Bangaldesh.
While it comes across as though viewers of this series simply shouldn't take their eyes off him, he has given us all plenty to look at. It's that man again Virat Kohli. From revealing a different version of events to the BCCI about his stepping away from white-ball captaincy to giving up the Test leadership, and shouting at the stump microphone in between, Kohli has been under the microscope for reasons other than his form. But let's talk about that. He was not able to break his century drought in Tests but will hope he can do so in ODIs.
They have room for two allrounders and may have to choose between seam and spin in that role, two out-and-out quicks and a specialist spinner. South Africa have a bottleneck at the top of the line-up, which could leave Rassie van der Dussen coming in lower than he is used to. Rabada won't be there to choose from, but they have added some cover in the form of left-arm spin-bowling allrounder George Linde, retained in the ODI unit after being part of the Test squad. Rabada's absence could open a door for the young Marco Jansen make an ODI debut, following a highly successful Test outing.
India too will not have the three pacers who shored up their bowling in the recent ODI World Cup -- Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
While Bumrah and Siraj will feature in the Test series, Shami has been ruled out of the tour after the BCCI medical team did not give him fitness clearance.
In the absence of these senior pros, the onus is squarely on the shoulders of bowlers such as Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh to marshal India’s pace department and they will have to show more consistency despite producing a fine effort in the final T20I against South Africa at this venue.
It is a non-negotiable task for them because Bumrah or other seniors' continued availability cannot be guaranteed going forward.
The Johannesburg surface showed a rather unexpected leaning towards spin in the third T20I on Thursday, and in that scenario, India will be happy to have three experienced campaigners in their ranks in Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal.
The visitors can also look to give a run to off-spinner Washington Sundar, who can also double up as a top-order batter.
But among them, leg-spinner Chahal, who had some excellent matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Haryana, will be eager to prove that he is still a relevant force in white ball cricket.
Chahal was neither a part of India squad in the World Cup nor was he there in the T20Is against Australia at home. So, the 33-year-old will be hoping to get a chance here to roll his arm and impress the selectors.
Sanju Samson, though he is slotted in as a reserve wicketkeeper behind Rahul, will be hoping to land a match or two in the series after getting cold shoulder from the selectors for a good part of the season.
Captain KL Rahul confirmed on the eve of the game that he would open in Rohit Sharma's absence.
Known for being slow and flat, Boland Park has thrown up some surprises over the years, most notably Sri Lanka being skittled out for 43 a decade ago. But first-innings scores tend to be high here and South Africa have topped 350 once in the last five years and come close on another occasion.
South Africa have not won an ODI series since sweeping Australia 3-nil in February 2020.
Yuzvendra Chahal needs three wickets to become the 23rd Indian player to take 100 wickets in ODIs.
Temba Bavuma is confident about his side's ability to tackle spin bowling.
South Africa: (possible)
- Quinton de Kock (wk)
- Janneman Malan
- Temba Bavuma
- Aiden Markram
- Rassie van der Dussen
- David Miller
- Dwaine Pretorius/George Linde
- Andile Phehlulwayo
- Marco Jansen
- Lungi Ngidi
- Tabraiz Shamsi
The Teams:
India: KL Rahul (Captain, wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (Captain), Ottniel Baartman, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Mihlali Mpongwana, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams.
Match starts at 1.30 PM IST.
| Team | Key Player | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | KL Rahul | Strong batting lineup, experienced spinners | Inexperienced pace attack |
| South Africa | Aiden Markram | Good all-rounders, quality spin bowling | Absence of key fast bowlers |
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