After getting drubbed at home in the two-match Test series, Team India will be looking to bounce back in the white-ball formats. India come into the ODI series without their captain, as Shubman Gill has been ruled out, but see two stalwarts in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma return to the setup. South Africa, meanwhile, will look to pick up a historic red-ball and white-ball series win, aiming to bring the momentum from the Test series to the ODI series.
For the game, here is our match preview and predictions.
With no Shubman Gill, KL Rahul will be leading the Men in Blue for the three-match ODI series. Rahul will have the veteran Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the squad to assist him in the leadership group. With Rohit Sharma returning, Sharma will have a new opening partner, with his former Test opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal primed to open with him. Kohli has the No. 3 spot locked in for decades now and will continue to do so, while the No. 4 spot will be up for grabs. With no Shreyas Iyer, who is recovering from his freak injury in Australia, India have to choose between the likes of Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, and Ruturaj Gaikwad for the No. 4 spot. India can push KL Rahul up to four and have Pant bat at five as well, but that would mean moving Rahul away from his No. 5 spot — a spot he has made his own for the last 5–6 years.
Ravindra Jadeja returns to the ODI setup after missing out in Australia and will be the lead spinner and main all-rounder. With no Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy is India’s only seam-bowling all-rounder option, with the bowling being a bit thin on experience with the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Prasidh Krishna.
The visitors, meanwhile, have Temba Bavuma leading them, with their experienced top-order star Quinton de Kock making a return to international cricket recently, turning around his call on retirement. With de Kock at the top, South Africa have experience and stability, and having toured India previously, de Kock will be key for the Proteas. de Kock will have Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton at the top of the order with him; Temba Bavuma will be key in the middle order, with the young Dewald Brevis being the one who will have all the spotlight on him.
With Kagiso Rabada having suffered an injury in the Test series, the visitors will see Lungi Ngidi lead the bowling attack with the likes of Nandre Burger, Ottneil Baartman, Marco Jansen, and Keshav Maharaj.
The Ranchi strip has been one which provides a lot of runs for the batters, and expect a lot of runs, with Team India’s stronger batting unit giving them the edge in this encounter.
Fantasy XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal (vc), Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Virat Kohli, Dewald Brevis, KL Rahul (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Lungi Ngidi
Venue: JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi
Winners Prediction: India
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