South Africa have chosen to bat in the first ODI against India in Paarl, with the hosts having won six out of the last seven ODIs.
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South Africa won the toss and chose to bat in the first ODI against India at Paarl. Temba Bavuma and KL Rahul will be leading the respective sides at Boland Park. The backdrop to this contest is very interesting. Quinton de Kock, who retired from Tests after the loss in Centurion, is back for South Africa. KL Rahul will be leading the ODI side after Virat Kohli spectacularly announced that he was stepping down as Test captain. For the first time since 2012, Kohli will not be the captain of any side in national or the IPL.
The Proteas have lost Kagiso Rabada. The speedster has been rested for the series against New Zealand. Apart from the return of De Kock, Marco Jansen has also been included after a superb show in the Tests. For India, Venkatesh Iyer was included for his debut. Shreyas Iyer will bat at No.4 while Rahul will open with Shikhar Dhawan. R Ashwin made it into the ODI side after five years and he will partner Yuzvendra Chahal. Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were the spinners for India.
The three-match ODI series between India and South Africa will not have any points to play for in the ODI Super League. This has diluted the importance of the series in a big way. India last won an ODI series in 2018 when they hammered South Africa 5-1. This was the first time they won a series. At that time, the captain was Virat Kohli.
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Venkatesh Iyer made his debut in the T20Is against New Zealand. Although he did not get many opportunities, India would be looking to fill the void of a bowling all-rounder left by Hardik Pandya’s absence. Venkatesh Iyer impressed for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021. The Indore lad is been touted for bigger things.
When talking about the changes before the ODI series, Rahul stated it was an emotional moment. “Lot of us have debuted under Virat. Obviously, he’s still with us and integral part of the team. Just want to try out a few things in terms of tactics and strategies. Personnel will not change much. We want to give them a good run. Experimentation doesn’t mean we’ll go in and start hitting from ball one,” Rahul stated.
South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma(c), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
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