After getting whitewashed by South Africa in the Test series, India will look to start off the white-ball leg on a positive note as the two teams lock horns in Ranchi on Sunday for the 1st game of 3-match ODI series. As usual with a litany of talents at their disposal, the starting XI of the hosts has been the talking points heading into the ODIs.
With Shubman Gill out, all signs point towards Yashasvi Jaiswal opening the innings with Rohit Sharma with Virat Kohli coming in at No.3. The No.4 position is, however, where the intrigue lies with a potential 3-way clash. Will India give a chance to Tilak Varma at No.4 and then follow up with Rishabh Pant or Ruturaj Gaikwad in the No.5 spot with skipper KL Rahul confirming that he will bat at No.6.
Or India could simply slot in Ruturaj Gaikwad at no 5 and Tilak Varma at No. 4 with Pant likely to miss out altogether. With KL Rahul going through the wicketkeeping drills in the nets, that might be the most likely situation. “Rutu is a top-class player. He will get his opportunity at some stage and we are looking forward to giving him the chance and letting him show what he can do and do the job for the team. There is never a question mark about his skill and how good he is as a player. It is just about the right opportunities and the right timing has come,” Rahul had said in the press conference that might hint at Gaikwad finding a place in the starting XI.
IND predicted XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (c/wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh
SA predicted XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Temba Bavuma (C), Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Corbin Bosch, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Prenalen Subrayen.
India ODI Squad: KL Rahul (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh.
South Africa ODI Squad: Temba Bavuma (C), Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen, Tony de Zorzi, Rubin Hermann, Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Ryan Rickelton, Prenelan Subrayen.
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