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| Pc: InsideSport |
Match no: 1
Date: 12-March
Day: Thursday
Venue: Dharamsala
Stadium: Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium
Match Status: Match Abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain.
Match Preview:
After a 3-0 drubbing in New Zealand, India is back to their comfort zone, playing in home conditions. Over the last few years, India has a terrific record of playing at home and that should help them heal the bruises they suffered against New Zealand. South Africa, on the other hand, has been in terrific touch and are coming off a 3-0 win over the Aussies. Still, the assignment of playing in India will be tough for them as adapting to the conditions so quickly will be a challenge. The first match of the three-match series between the two sides is to be played at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Cricket Ground, Dharamsala on 12th March.India Squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill.
South Africa Squad: Quinton de Kock(w/c), Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis, JJ Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne, Anrich Nortje, Lutho Sipamla, George Linde, Rassie van der Dussen, Beuran Hendricks
India:
While India wasn't playing with a truly depleted side against the Kiwis, one could argue that they weren't playing at their full-strength either. With Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Hardik Pandya back in the squad, this India unit looks as dangerous as it looked a couple of months ago. However, Rohit Sharma is still out injured and Mayank Agarwal is likely to slot in the top along with Shikhar Dhawan.
Ravindra Jadeja was brilliant in the away conditions, which were excellent for the seam bowlers, and he is likely to be even for effective on Indian soil. That, however, leaves India with a bitter-sweet problem to pick between Jadeja and Pandya. We might see India pick both of them and leave the number six out, but that might leave India with a long tail.
South Africa:
Against the Aussies, the Proteas were fantastic in all departments of the game. The change of management seems to have worked wonders for them and this series against India would be a big test for the Proteas. On paper, they have a very talented batting unit, although it is a bit inexperienced. The return of Faf du Plessis is going to provide them with a bit of comfort in the top-order, something which they seemed to be lacking against the Aussies. Their middle-order, with Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller in superb form, looks as good as ever. With bowling doing fine as well, beating South Africa isn't going to be as trivial as it appeared to be a couple of months ago.
My Dream11 Team
updates once playing 11 is announcced
