Can Rohit and Kohli lift gloomy India?

Not often do India find themselves surrounded by question marks over their Test form at home. But clean sweeps against New Zealand and South Africa on home turf over the last 12 months have certainly invited plenty of scrutiny. From that standpoint, the players and coaching staff would certainly welcome a change in scenario. ODI cricket is a format where India are largely comfortable. They won the Champions Trophy earlier in the year and even though they don't play many games in the format these days, the presence of their star duo would be a massive boost.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli headlined India's previous ODI assignment in Australia considering it's the only format they play now in national colours. Without a doubt, there's going to be plenty of focus on these two over the next one week, again in January and whenever India take the field to play 50-over cricket. At the twilight of their careers, Rohit and Kohli will bring cheer to a gloomy outfit and if they can provide that extra bit of spark on the field with the bat, India will back themselves to return to their best on the field again.

This series also presents a rare opportunity to test their bench strength in the ODI format. Having a largely settled batting unit, India have been forced to ring in the changes following the absence of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. While there has been a clamour on social media to straightaway include Ruturaj Gaikwad in the XI, India have no shortage of batting talent in white-ball cricket. With Hardik Pandya continuing to be unavailable, India could use this series as an opportunity to give Nitish Reddy a prolonged run to ensure they have a backup seam-bowling allrounder ready.

From a South African perspective, they will be looking to pile on more misery on the home side. They just lost their most recent ODI assignment earlier this month in Pakistan but they will be significantly bolstered now with the return of some of their first-choice players. These three ODIs followed by the T20Is will be of significant importance in terms of exposure in these conditions ahead of the T20 World Cup in February.

When: Sunday, November 30 at 1:30 PM IST

Where: JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi

What to expect: Clear skies are expected for the game. Ranchi's most recent ODI was three years ago and it was South Africa again who had played here in that fixture. The venue usually doesn't witness high-scoring games.

Head-to-head: South Africa lead 51-40 but in India, the hosts lead 18-14

Team News

India

Yashasvi Jaiswal has been patiently waiting for this opportunity to add to his solitary ODI cap. He is expected to open alongside Rohit but India have calls to make in the middle order. Rahul has confirmed that he would bat at six so an allrounder could slot in at five if India seek a sixth option with the ball.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Reddy, KL Rahul (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh

South Africa

Quinton de Kock's successful comeback to 50-over cricket and Aiden Markram's return should keep Ryan Rickelton out for now. Matthew Breetzke will have to shoulder a lot of responsibility in the middle order after making a spectacular start to his ODI career.

Probable XI: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (WK), Temba Bavuma (C), Matthew Breetzke, Rubin Hermann, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi

Did you know:

Rohit Sharma needs just two sixes to equal Shahid Afridi's record for most sixes in ODI cricket.

Quinton de Kock has hit six centuries and one half-century against India in ODIs

India have played 10 bilateral ODI series at home post the 2019 World Cup, winning nine of them. Their only loss was against Australia in 2023.

What they said:

"I am happy to have him back again with the ODI team. He missed out the Australia series but he was part of the Champions Trophy as well. And he was key in us winning that tournament. He is someone who can do everything and he is someone who has always done everything that the team has required of him." - KL Rahul on Ravindra Jadeja's return to the ODI side