Indian ODI team under the leadership of KL Rahul would have wanted to forget the heartbreaking defeat in the Test series against South Africa and start the three-match ODI series with new vigour and strong determination. But team India’s hope of scripting a memorable fightback received a huge blow after the visitors had to suffer a 31-run defeat in the opening ODI match of the series on January 19 (Wednesday).
After failing miserably in the first match, the Indian middle order batsmen will be under considerable amount of pressure in the second ODI which is scheduled to be played on Friday (January 21).
Quick solution
In the first match of the series Indian team seemed to have various problems in their side and skipper Rahul will have to find a quick solution if he wants to emerge as the leader of victorious side in the ODI series.
In the first match, opener Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli were successful in averting the early danger that was caused by the Proteas bowlers after dismissing Indian skipper KL Rahul quickly. Dhawan scored 79 runs off 84 balls and Kohli on the other hand notched 51 runs off 63 balls. But after both of them failed to read South African spinners, the poor condition of Indian middle-order batting was revealed.
Apart from Shardul Thakur (50 runs off 43 balls) not a single batsman managed to do something productive to help their side in the run chase.
Batting collapse
After Kohli’s dismissal, Indian team lost their six wickets in a span of just 62 runs. In a scenario like this Indian team management is expected to bring Suryakumar Yadav in the squad for the next game. But for that to happen someone must sacrifice his spot and skipper Rahul has undoubtedly a tough task over here.
Will Shreyas Iyer be dropped from the squad or Venkatesh Iyer, just after making his ODI debut in the first game, will not be able to play in the second game? Skipper Rahul’s decision regarding Iyer has been a little baffling in the first match as the 27-year-old all-rounder was not brought in to showcase his bowling skills at all. If Iyer is in the squad only on the basis of his batting prowess then it will be interesting to see if he still finds a berth in the second ODI.
On the other hand, in the next match, pacer Mohammad Siraj can find a place in the team.
Proteas, under the leadership of Temba Bavuma would want to keep their winning momentum intact. Bavuma and Russie van der Dussen showed superb batting skills in the first match. Proteas bowling unit also did a remarkable job in restricting their opponents within just 265 runs. In the absence of pacer Kagiso Rabada, South African pacers managed to do a good job and skipper Bavuma would want his players to produce exactly that same sort of performance in the second ODI of the series.
