SA vs IND | 1st ODI: All eyes on 'batter' Virat Kohli as India begin ODI WC auditions

It has been a pretty emotional ride for the Indian cricket fans after Virat Kohli stepped down as the skipper. The controversies around the topic have just mounted and there has been a lot of noise off the field. Having said that, the Indian team would like to focus on the assignment that they have next and that is the ODI series against South Africa away from home. 

After Kohli’s resignation as the limited-overs captain, Rohit Sharma was named the skipper while KL Rahul as his deputy. But unfortunately, Sharma is missing this tour due to injury and Rahul will be donning the captain’s hat in his absence with pacer Jasprit Bumrah being the vice-captain of the side. 

The first encounter between the two sides is slated to take place on Wednesday (January 19, 2022) in Paarl. The visitors would look to replicate the performance that they unveiled during the 2017-18 ODI series in South Africa where the Virat Kohli-led side clinched a 5-1 victory in the six-match series. 

Match Details 

Match: RSA vs IND, 1st ODI, India tour of South Africa, 2021-22

Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Time: 2:00 PM

Venue: Boland Park, Paarl

Pitch Report

The track is likely to assist the batters in the initial phase of the game while the spinners might have something on offer. 

The team who wins the toss would look to bat first and put up a total around 250 on the board. Chasing a total on this pitch might be tricky but keeping wickets in hands would be the key for the side batting second. 

‘Batter’ Kohli to play vital role

Former India skipper Virat Kohli’s run in the 2017-18 ODI series was a dominating and a lethal one and the visiting team will be expecting the “batsman” Kohli to unleash something of similar sorts. The right-handed batsman then notched up a total of 558 runs in 6 innings at an average of 186 which included three tons & a fifty during the course. 

With the captaincy pressure off him, Kohli has the opportunity to focus on his batting completely. There has been a century drought for him but the right-hander has looked in good touch especially the way he batted in the first innings of the third Test. 

Kohli showed a lot of patience and zeal to stick around and be among runs and also struck a responsible 79. If he gets going for India, then there’s no stopping. 

Team selection - A headache

From the opening combinations to middle-order line up to the bowling unit, the team management has a lot of options but looking at the South African side, the coach and the captain might stick to the experienced lads at least for the opening ODI. 

With Shikhar Dhawan back in the side and KL Rahul being the skipper, the chances of Ruturaj Gaikwad featuring in this particular game look unlikely. KL has already announced that he will be opening, which means that Gaikwad's position in the top of the batting order looks improbable. Apart from this, if Venkatesh Iyer is picked in the XI, then either Shreyas Iyer or Suryakumar Yadav will have to be benched. Moreover, Ravichandran Ashwin is back in the ODI side and is likely to get a place in the final XI for this match. 

Probable XI

India: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk),  Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

South Africa: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi & Tabraiz Shamsi

Fantasy XI

Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (VC), David Miller, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma, R Ashwin, Venkatesh Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi (C)