Venue: Boland Park, Paarl
Time: 2:00 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 291
Win percentage while batting first: 100%
Pitch conditions:
- The pitch at Boland Park in Paarl where India and South Africa will play their first two ODIs of the three-match series is expected to be batting friendly with assistance to fast bowlers more than the spinners.
- Fast bowlers have enjoyed greater success at this venue as they have taken 80% of the wickets that have fallen while the rest have gone to the spin bowlers.
Weather prediction:
India and South Africa will clash at the Boland Park in Paarl on Thursday with perfect conditions for the opening ODI of the three-match series. The skies will be clear throughout the day with temperatures hitting a high of 33°C in the afternoon and a low of 21°C after sunset. The humidity levels will be as low as 17% around the time the game starts, but will rise sharply to reach around 50% towards the end of the match at night.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: 84
India won: 35
South Africa won: 46
No result: 3
In South Africa:
Matches played: 34
India won: 10
South Africa won: 22
No result: 2
Top 3 players from India: KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli
Top 3 players from South Africa: Janneman Malan, Rassie van der Dussen, Tabraiz Shamsi
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from India: KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant
Top 5 players from South Africa: Janneman Malan, Rassie van der Dussen, Tabraiz Shamsi, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
With both India and South Africa looking to find their perfect team combination for this ODI series, the teams would want to carry plenty of batting depth while selecting fast bowlers who have enjoyed recent success such as Kagiso Rabada for South Africa and Shardul Thakur along with Jasprit Bumrah for India. The pitch at the Boland Park is expected to be conducive for batting while spinners might enjoy the odd ball turning. But for the large parts, fast bowlers will be expected to control the game both with measly spells and wickets at regular intervals.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Like it was a case in the Test series, India are certainly the stronger side compared to South Africa on paper. The visiting side finds itself spoilt for choices as there is plenty of young talent knocking on the door for selection in the playing XI which includes Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer and Ishan Kishan. With Rohit Sharma unavailable for the series, KL Rahul will be the captain and he will have rich company of the experienced campaigners in former India captain Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan in the batting department. On the other hand, South Africa, who lost half of their 10 ODIs played last year in 2021, will once again be desperate to prove their mettle and draw a lot of confidence from their Test series victory over India.
MORE INFORMATION: It will be for the first time since October 2016 that Kohli will be taking the field purely as a player. The former India captain has given up captaincy role in Test cricket as well, and with him completely free of leadership responsibilities in the Indian camp, the run machine can look forward to getting back at his best and help India prepare for the two limited-overs World cups lined up in 2022 and 2023. With Rohit Sharma missing the South Africa tour due to an injury, KL Rahul has been elevated as the captain of Indian team and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be his deputy. Ravichandran Ashwin is making a comeback to the Indian team for the first time since 2017 and it remains to be seen what kind of impact the ace spinner will have in challenging conditions.
Players’ form: For South Africa, both Janneman Malan and Rassie van der Dussen were in red-hot form in 50-over cricket last year. In the bowling department, South Africa will be expecting a strong display from their spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj ― their vice-captain ― controlling the run flow and also making crucial breakthroughs. The return to form of Kagiso Rabada would certainly have been an added advantage for the Proteas side which has had a successful record against India in ODI cricket playing at home, but the star fast bowler has been rested from the three-match series.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
Likely XIs:
India: KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan/Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), Rasi vendor decision, Janneman Malan, David Miller, Marco Jansen/Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.
Fantasy XI: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Virat Kohli, Janneman Malan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Andile Phehlukwayo, Shardul Thakur, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chaha;l
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India, South Africa seek winning start to ODI series
A bruised and battered Indian cricket team will look to bounce back and clinch victory in the first ODI against South Africa at the Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday, having lost the last two matches on the tour, albeit in a different format.
The Indian cricket team arrived on the South African shores dreaming of their first-ever Test series victory in the Rainbow nation, but the spirited and determined hosts denied India at Johannesburg and Cape Town, winning both the contests by 7 wickets respectively and clinching the Freedom Trophy series 2-1.
With the T20 international matches cancelled for this trip at least, India will look to salvage some pride and restart their ODI cycle under the captaincy of KL Rahul, who is now the new regular vice-captain.
Rahul was elevated as the captain in place of the injured Rohit Sharma, who has been stated as a regular skipper of the Indian limited-overs cricket team. Kohli, who gave up the captaincy role a couple of days after the conclusion of the Test series, is all set to play the first ODI without holding any leadership responsibility in the Indian team since the year 2016.
India have named their star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as the vice-captain for this three-match ODI series which is a part of the World Cup Super League, but will have no consequence for the visiting side, since they have already qualified for the 2023 event given that India will be hosting the event.
KL Rahul will have the experience of Kohli and left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan as he leads a young batting line-up which includes Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant with Venkatesh Iyer set to play the role of the all-rounder in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who was dropped from the limited-overs’ squad after India's poor showing in the T20 World Cup 2021-
Along with Bumrah, all eyes will also be on the comeback spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who is playing his first ODI series since the year 2017. India has also carried a leg-spinner in the form of Yuzvendra Chahal, who was not a part of their squad in the World Cup. India also have a spin bowling all-rounder in the form of Jayant Yadav in their touring party. In the fast bowling department, India have the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna and Bumrah.
With Rahul set to open for India in the absence of Rohit, one among Ruturaj Gaikwad and Dhawan will be his opening partner with Kohli taking his usual No 3 slot. All eyes will also be on Iyer, who has showcased his skills and talent in the middle-order after impressing one and all batting in the top slot in the Indian T20 League 2021 for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and went on to prove his prowess in the middle-order in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Even though India have played 3 ODIs at the Boland Park, it is for the first time that they are facing South Africa in a contest across formats here. India have so far recorded two victories and a tied game against Zimbabwe ― dating all the way back to 1997 ― at this venue.
South Africa will be eager to draw confidence from their remarkable performance in the Test series against India and bring some amount of success to ODI cricket as well. In the last year, South Africa played 10 ODIs and lost half of them while winning only three.
South Africa will be keen to build on the success as well as form shown by some of their key players, including Kagiso Rabada who created a lot of problems for the Indian batsmen in the Test series. South Africa will also be dependent heavily on their spin bowling pair of ODI vice-captain Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi, who were the leading wicket-takers last year in 50 over cricket.
In the batting department, South Africa will pin their hopes on the likes of Janneman Malan, the aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock and middle-order batsmen Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma.
