Predicting India’s Playing XI for their first ODI against South Africa

After a dreadful end to a dream campaign at the ODI World Cup, the Indian team has set foot on South African soil. The Men in Blue will play a 3-match ODI series against the Proteas under the leadership of KL Rahul. It will be a big challenge for the team as some of the senior players are not available and there are a lot of new faces who have never played in South Africa before. In this article, we will take a look at the probable starting lineup for India in the first ODI against South Africa.

Top Order

Few players who will play in the test series have not been included in the squad which leaves space for other new faces to come and show their potential. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are not there to open the innings which can lead to an opening pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and the newcomer Sai Sudharsan who plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket. 

We can see Shreyas Iyer taking the No.3 spot in the absence of Virat Kohli. He has been in great form in the past couple of months and the 28-year-old will be ready to take on this challenge. 

Middle Order

Sanju Samson, after a long gap will be making a comeback into the team and the wicketkeeper-batsman might play at No.4. Following him will be the captain KL Rahul at No.5 who has been phenomenal in this position. The two left-handers Rinku Singh and Axar Patel will be completing this batting order and their role will be crucial in the later overs. Rinku has been a revelation in the T20 series against Australia and South Africa, now the fans would be expecting a similar performance from him in this format as well.

Bowling Unit

In all likelihood Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, and Deepak Chahar will be the three prominent fast bowlers for India in this match and maybe throughout the whole series as well. Deepak Chahar can be preferred over Avesh Khan for his batting abilities in the lower order and his role may be crucial in elongating the batting lineup. Kuldeep Yadav will be the frontline spinner who will be assisted by Axar Patel with his left-arm spin.

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