IND vs SA: 5 High-Profile Player Battles to Watch Out for in Ranchi

The first IND vs SA ODI will be held at JSCA International Stadium on Sunday.

Get ready for some high-profile action as the ODI series between India and South Africa is all set to kick off on Sunday. These two sides will collide in three ODIs, and it will be full of action. The first game is slated to take place at JSCA International Stadium on November 30 (Sunday) with a scheduled start of 1:30 PM IST.

India had a disastrous Test series, where South Africa embraced them with a historic 2-0 clean sweep. The Proteas will be eager to hammer India once again and take an early lead. However, India will be strengthened as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be back.

This will install experience into the side. But the absence of Shubman Gill, Shreyer Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Siraj will even out things. Despite all these, there are a number of superstars who will be in action on Sunday. In this article, we will talk

5 High-Profile Player Battles to Watch Out for in 1st IND vs SA ODI

1. Rohit Sharma vs Lungi Ngidi

Former Indian captain Rohit Sharma is currently the no. 1 ranked batter in ODIs. He scored a century the last time India played an ODI. He scored the most runs in the AUS vs IND ODI series. Rohit is a clean striker of the ball and takes the attack to the opposition.

Hence, South Africa will want him to get out cheaply. That is where the slow balls of Lungi Ngidi can come in handy. Ngidi has a good record against Rohit. He has dismissed the Indian opener twice in 36 balls in ODIs, whereas Rohit has scored 52 runs off him at a strike rate of 144.4.

2. Virat Kohli vs Keshav Maharaj

Virat Kohli is back, and his ODI stats show that he is a master of this format. He has more than 1500 runs against South Africa in ODIs and enjoys batting against them. A good start for Virat means he can play another big knock. That is why it is important to stop him early.

In the last few years, it has been seen that Virat finds it a bit difficult against left-arm spinners. That opens the battle for him against Keshav Maharaj. The South African spinner has succeeded against Virat. He has dismissed the latter two times in ODIs, and Virat has an average of 26 against him.

3. Aiden Markram vs Kuldeep Yadav

Aiden Markram is likely to bat in the middle order, where he will face Kuldeep Yadav. It will be an important battle for the IND vs SA 1st ODI. Markram is a free-flowing batter who has always performed against big teams. He even showed good form in the test series.

That is why India need to dismiss him cheaply. Hence, Kuldeep can be a good weapon against him. These two have come up against each other a few times, and Kuldeep has dismissed him twice. Markram has scored 16 runs off 40 balls against him.

4. Quinton de Kock vs Arshdeep Singh

Quinton de Kock showed great form against Pakistan in ODIs. He scored one century and two half-centuries in three innings. He is now against his favorites opponents and has six hundreds in 20 innings against India with over 1000 runs. De Kock is all about big innings, and he can be pretty good against India.

That is where India must stop him before he gets going. In the powerplay, Arshdeep Singh will be key with the new ball. He swings the ball both ways and is a smart bowler. This will be the first time that these two will be up against each other for the first time, but in T20Is, Arshdeep has dismissed De Kock three times in just 19 balls.

5. KL Rahul vs Marco Jansen

Indian stand-in captain KL Rahul will be a key batter for India in the middle order. Shreyas Iyer is not available, which means Rahul needs to take more responsibility. He has been pretty good since batting in the middle. Being a captain, he will also look to play good innings and take his team to a win.