3rd ODI: Battered India look to test bench strength, in danger of facing series sweep in South Africa

From beating South Africa in South Africa 6-1 during their last trip to battling to avoid a series sweep in the ongoing tour, India have endured a massive swing in fortunes as far as ODIs in the Rainbow Nation are concerned. KL Rahul’s side will look to avoid a whitewash when they face Temba Bavuma’s confident South African side in the 3rd and final ODI of the series in Cape Town on Sunday.

India have managed to win only 1 of their 7 ODI series in South Africa in the past but they have been whitewashed in a completed series. However, if the first two ODIs in Paarl are anything to go by India may return home empty-handed from the ODI series.

Not many expected India to lose the Test series but they went down 2-1 despite winning the series opener in Centurion. In the ODI series, India have paid the price for some stubborn selection and outdated tactics so far.

India’s strategy looked completely out of sync with modern-day white ball game as the batters failed to keep the momentum in the middle overs and more importantly the bowlers, save Jasprit Bumrah, looked club class and without ideas of getting breakthroughs.

WILL INDIA LOOK AT MAKING WHOLESALE CHANGES?

In two matches, India have been only able to pick up seven wickets — four in the first game when Proteas batted first and only three in the second.

Ravichandran Ashwin and especially Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the two senior-most bowlers looked far from threatening and the young Proteas batters like Rassie van der Dussen, Janneman Malan along with seniors like Quinton de Kock have feasted on the pedestrian stuff dished out by them.

With the two having flopped completely, it needs to be seen whether Rahul Dravid, the man who is currently calling all the shots as far as tactics is concerned, takes a dim view and at least try out Jayant Yadav and Deepak Chahar in the next game which would lend some freshness to the attack.

Worse, the first two games were played on a Boland Park strip that didn’t have a lot of pace and bounce and even skipper KL Rahul admitted that conditions were more familiar with what they get back home, compared to what they are used to getting in South Africa.

However, at Newlands, there will be more pace and bounce on the track and the Indian team that has been perennially struggling would want to avoid the ignominy of a 0-3 loss.

CAN KL RAHUL END TOUR ON A HIGH?

For skipper Rahul, the whole tour, save his match-winning hundred in the first Test, has been a nightmare. Although he is being seen as a long-term future leader, there hasn’t been any spark whatsoever in his leadership that would make anyone sit up and feel that he is the one cut out for the job.

There hasn’t been any tactical improvisations in the two games so far which would inspire confidence in his leadership abilities.

Add to that, his own style of batting at the top of the order is outdated in modern ODIs and his inability to rotate the strike for the better part is also creating pressure on the later batters, who aren’t as adept at maneuvering the strike.

The focus will also be on Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer as the duo has struggled to get going in the middle order.

SA vs IND, 3rd ODI SQUADS

India: KL Rahul (captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj, Jayant Yadav, Navdeep Saini.

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Keshav Maharaj, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Zubayr Hamza, Marco Jansen, Janneman Malan, Sisanda Magala, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne.