India v South Africa 1st ODI at Durban
By Rajeev on Jan 12, 2011 in Uncategorized
India will take on South Africa in the first of five match ODI series at Kingsmead, Durban with the World Cup in mind. Win in this series will put them in right frame of mind and contention for the ICC mega event starting next month.
India who already done enough on this tour which earlier team failed to do so by drawing the three match test series as well as winning the only twenty02 internationals will look forward to winning their first ODI series against South Africa on the fast bouncy South African wickets.
India is not at their full strength squad but they have enough bench strength to fulfill the gap left by Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in the batting department, in the bowling department also they have likes of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh to take the challenge against South African batsmen.
South Africa, at home on lively tracks, go in as the favourites. The team coming on top will go into the World Cup on a high, but individual performances in this series could be just as important as the scoreline itself.
Last time when India played the ODI series in South Africa they have lost the five matches ODI series by 0-4 and it needs something special from Indians to reverse the trend.
The series between India and South Africa will also provide great opportunity for both the teams to grab the number one ranking in ICC ODI table. A win here in South Africa for India will not only boost their confidance ahead of the World Cup but also give them opportunity to go into the mega event as number one ranked ODI team.
Having said that, most of the Indian players know that the condition in South Africa will be totally different than the condition they will play their world cup matches however it’s important to maintain the winning streak before going into the mega event such as World Cup.
Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 18:00 PM India Time)
India: S.Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, M.S.Dhoni (Captain & WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel.
South Africa: G.Smith (Captain), Hashim Amla, Collin Ingram, AB Devilliers (WK), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Johan Botha, Wayne Parnell, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn.
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