South Africa look to improve 2023 ODI World Cup qualification chances against a new-look India

With the T20I series done and dusted, Team India will now shift their focus to the upcoming ODIs where they will be up against the mighty South Africans, hoping to prise out significant numbers with a reduced squad as the first-string players would be boarding the flight to Australia on 6th of October to be a part of a couple of preparatory camps ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup.

A lot of new faces will be on display in the upcoming international affair under the chaperonage of Shikhar Dhawan, presenting a string of new complexities for the Indian management. Rajat Patidar, Shahbaz Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar will be hoping to earn their international debut while experienced campaigners like Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Mohammed Siraj would be holding fort.

This is also going to be an important series for Ruturaj Gaikwad who has drifted in and out of form in the limited opportunities that he has been given at the international stage while Ishan Kishan will have his task cut out as he hopes to add a third name to the wicket-keeping mix of India where both Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant have staged a rock-solid show so far.

Out of the last 9 ODIs that India has played so far, they have won 8 of them out of which there was an all-important series conquest against England that highlighted how good the Indian cricket team has been.

South Africa, however, haven’t been a part of many ODIs of late but they have managed to keep things afloat against England in an impressive show where the decider was washed away. Even against India, they managed to eke out impressive numbers at the beginning of the year where they whitewashed the travelling Men in Blue and as they take on India’s second-string squad, captain Temba Bavuma would be hoping to replicate their earlier success from back home.

Stats:

Sachin Tendulkar leads the list of top run-scorers in the ODIs between these two countries as he has managed to pile up 2001 runs from 57 innings at an average of 35.73.

Sachin Tendulkar is the only double-centurion in this entire rivalry as he holds the record of the highest score chronicled in an innings against South Africa with an unbeaten 200 at Gwalior.

Sunil Joshi’s magical figures of 10-6-6-5 still remains the best figures in Indo-South African ODI rivalry, being also the only bowler to register an economy rate of less than 1, bowling his entire quota of 10 overs.

MS Dhoni has affected a staggering 11 dismissals from just 5 games against South Africa, bettering the long-standing record of David Richardson’s 11 from 7, becoming the wicket-keeper to impact the highest number of dismissals in a single India vs South Africa ODI series.

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 87

India: 35

South Africa: 49

Match Details:

India vs South Africa

Ekana Sports City

6th October

1:30 PM

Squads:

India: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubhman Gill, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Rajat Patidar, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi