Men in blue will be starting 2018 with an exhausting tour to South Africa which will consist of 3 Tests, 6 ODIs, and 3 T20Is to be played from the month of January.
Virat Kohli and his men are enjoying a phenomenal run in limited overs cricket in recent times as they defeated teams like Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka (in Sri Lanka) in 2017. Recently, India defeated Sri Lanka in the ODI series by 2-1.
But the no.2 ranked ODI team is scheduled to face some tough challenges when they will lock horns with South Africa in their own den. Indians have never won an ODI series against South Africa in South Africa and are considered favorites to do so this time.
Last time when India visited South Africa in 2013, they played 3 ODIS and lost the series 2-0 as one of the ODIs was washed out. That time, MS Dhoni was Indian skipper and Zaheer Khan was still playing for India.
However, this time, India will be led by Kohli, who has more aggressive thinking than Dhoni. India will also be depending on Rohit Sharm, who has recently scored his 3rd double century and MS Dhoni, who has been a great middle order batsman for India in recent times.
Playing on fast pitches will be beneficial for Virat Kohli’s men as they currently possess a very good and in form fast bowling attack. Hence they might be looking to give Mohammad Shami back into the ODI squad, though, Virat will need to handle him with care, as he has the tendency of getting injured after playing a couple of series. Apart from him, India might also consider taking Ashwin and/or Jadeja along with the wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, but it will depend on the conditions as Kohli might not play with 2 spinners in any of the ODIs in SA.
On the batting front, India will need to find a settle opening combination as there are still doubts of who 2 will open from Dhawan, and Rahane, as all the 3 contenders along with Rohit are having experience of playing in South Africa previously. Dhoni and Kohli are the automatic picks, with chances of Manish Pandey and/or Dinesh Karthik will secure the other middle order spots. With Shreyas Iyer’s consistent performances against Sri Lanka, he also might get considered ahead of Yuvraj Singh and/or Suresh Raina despite having a lack of experience of the playing conditions in the Southern Hemisphere.
Hardik Pandya is also the automatic choice so that team will have the quartet of fast bowlers in ODI consisting Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Buumrah, and Mohammad Shami.
Indian selectors might consider taking an extra wicket-keeper as Karthik to backup Dhoni, in case of injury to MS.
Crishots’ Probable India 16-memeber squad for the six ODIs against SA:
Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer and/or Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik (wk), R Ashwin and/or Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
