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India vs South Africa 2021-22: Men in Blue eye redemption against Proteas under KL Rahul's leadership

India and South Africa will lock horns in a three-match ODI series, starting Wednesday. Having lost the Tests, India will eye redemption. Check out what we can expect from this series.

India vs South Africa, IND vs SA 2021-22: Men in Blue eye redemption against Proteas under KL Rahul's leadership-ayh
Author
Paarl, First Published Jan 18, 2022, 5:00 AM IST

Team India came up with a hard-fought performance in the just-concluded Test series against South Africa but fell short, losing the series 1-2. However, the Indians have a chance of redemption in the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series, starting Wednesday. Furthermore, with KL Rahul leading the side in the format for the first time, things will be interesting to see as we preview the series.

Team composition
The Indian team has ten batters compared to 11 bowlers. Overall, it has a packed bowling department, as the pacers will be looking to make a tremendous impact. As for South Africa, it is the opposite, as it has moved in with 12 batters, compared to its nine bowlers, while it seems to have been intimidated by India's heavy bowling attack.

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Strengths and weaknesses
Considering India, its strength will rely on its bowling. While the pacers like Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj and more would challenge the Protea batters, its batting cannot be taken for granted either. Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan are dominant.

On the other hand, South Africa's strength will be its batting. From Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, David Miller to Rassie van der Dussen, Wayne Parnell and Quinton de Kock, they can all pose a grave threat to the Indian bowlers. However, its bowling looks decent, too, especially with the pace combination of Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Nigdi.

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Players to watch
Rahul:
The Indian wicketkeeper-batter has been in fine form across formats. Although he became somewhat unstable in the Tests at the latter stages, seeing how he fares against the white ball would be exciting. Moreover, leading the side will put him somewhat under pressure.

Kohli: It would be his first ODI series since being dropped as the skipper. While he would be relieved, now that the pressure of the leadership duties is gone, he has the liberty to play his innings more freely. However, this could be his final chance to reclaim his long-lost knack of scoring centuries.

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De Kock: The wicketkeeper-opener shocked the world by announcing his retirement from Test cricket. However, now that he is solely focused on limited-overs, we could see a new lethal version of him, as has been the case with him in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Rabada: The Protea pacer has mastered himself as one of the finest South African pacers of late, thanks to his exposure in the IPL. Also, with primary pacer Anrich Nortje unavailable, Rabada will have to work a  bit extra hard to fill in for him.

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Squads
IND:
KL Rahul (c & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj.
SA: Temba Bavuma (c), Zubayr Hamza, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Quinton de Kock (wk), Kyle Verreynne (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Sisanda Magala, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi.

India's tour of South Africa 2021-22 (ODI schedule)
1st ODI: January 19 - Paarl
2nd ODI: January 21- Paarl
3rd ODI: January 23 - Cape Town

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