A fair part of the attention will be on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli when India face South Africa in the first ODI at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi on Sunday.
All eyes will also be on how well the Indians, some of whom were there in the disastrous Test leg as well, have made the mental adjustment of laying the 0-2 drubbing aside and beginning a new series with a fresh mind.
The task will not be easy as the likes of KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Rishabh Pant were all a part of that harrowing time against the South African bowlers in particular. Of course, this is a different format, and white-ball cricket has been India’s comfort zone lately, though they were on the losing side in their previous ODI assignment, in Australia last month.
Besides, the Proteas will not have off-spinner Simon Harmer in their ranks to torment the spin-scarred Indian batting group.
After the Test whitewash at home, head coach Gautam Gambhir, in his defence, had to resort to the success the team had in the Champions Trophy (50-over format) and the Asia Cup (T20 format) this year. If India don’t win this ODI series against the Proteas, the situation will certainly become even more uncomfortable
for Gambhir.
On paper, even with regular captain Shubman Gill not yet fit following his neck injury and frontline quicks Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj rested, this KL Rahul-led India are ahead of South Africa in the spin department. Although their returns weren’t too good in the recent Tests, the white-ball exploits of Jadeja and Kuldeep keep them ahead of the visitors, who only have left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj with a fair amount of experience in limited-overs cricket.
Talking about India’s batting line-up, it remains to be seen if they pick the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad or go with Pant. With Rohit and Jaiswal likely to open, and captain Rahul at No. 5, who bats at No.4 is a tricky call.
For Rohit and Kohli, they do need to be amongst runs. Otherwise, murmurs about whether this series could be their international swansong may again resurface.
In their last appearance in India colours, both were unbeaten, hitting 121 and
74, respectively, in an unbroken 168-run stand in Sydney. But it was an inconsequential game as India had lost the first two ODIs of that three-match series.
It would obviously do the stalwarts a world of good if they come up with impactful contributions in the ODIs against the Proteas. In the land of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, their former captain, there shouldn’t be any lack of inspiration.