south africa: Big opportunity for Indian fringe players to make a statement in ODI series against South Africa

The new-looking Indian team, led by Shikhar Dhawan, will aim to make a statement and be ready for next year’s 50-over World Cup, when the three-match ODI series against South Africa begins on Thursday.

In the absence of the big guns like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin, who are out of Australia for the T20 World Cup, the Indian selectors picked a new squad that includes Mukesh Kumar and Rajat Patidar, who took their chances. Earned the first call up.

The team also includes some T20 World Cup reserve players.

Middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer, who is part of the designated reserve for the T20 World Cup, will act as Dhawan’s deputy in the series.

Right-arm pacer Deepak Chahar and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, among other players in the standby list, have also been included in the ODI squad for the matches against South Africa.

Opener Shubman Gill, who impressed with limited opportunities in ODIs, is likely to resume his partnership with Dhawan at the helm.

Among other batsmen, Rahul Tripathi or Patidar is likely to make his ODI debut on Thursday.

Patidar, the Madhya Pradesh batsman, has been rewarded for his stellar performances in domestic cricket, the IPL, where he turned out for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and, most recently, for India A against New Zealand A in four-day games. to performance. He scored two centuries against the Kiwi team.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan are the other batsmen in the team who will form the basis of India’s middle order.

Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, who was recently included in the T20I squad for the South Africa series, Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav form India’s spin attack.

The pace department will be led by Shardul Thakur, Chahar, Avesh Khan and Mohammad Siraj and will also feature new face Mukesh, a prolific red-ball bowler for Bengal, who top first-class matches against New Zealand ‘A’. He emerged as the wicket-taker. ‘ and put up a stellar performance in the Irani Cup match against 2019-20 Ranji champions Saurashtra.

The squad consists of six players who could potentially make their ODI debut.

The series provides a great opportunity for second-rate players to make their presence felt and impress the selectors with remarkable performances to make it to next year’s ODI World Cup.

But it will be a tough test for India as the South African players will play for the points they need to qualify for next year’s World Cup.

The Proteas will be banking on the experienced Quinton de Kock, captain Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Reeza Hendrix and Janman Malan to work in the batting department.

They boast of a powerful bowling unit, which includes the likes of Lungi Ngidi, Enrique Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Dwayne Pretorius, spinner Tabrez Shamsi among others.

The weather is going to play an important role in the match as it is raining incessantly and heavy rain has also been predicted on Thursday.

The second ODI will be hosted in Ranchi on 9 October and the last match will be hosted by Delhi on 11 October.

Teams:

India: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Mr. Siraj, Deepak Chahar.

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendrix, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Jenman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Enrique Nortje, Wayne Parnell, A Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwayne Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada , Tabrez Shamsi.

Originally published at Pen 18