India vs South Africa, 1st ODI, Live Match Updates Dream 11, Live Streaming Details, Telecast, Match Facts
All eyes are writ large on Virat Kohli- 'the batter' who would be in the Indian playing eleven as a mere player for the first time in seven years. The focus will also be on India's potential Test cricket successor- K L Rahul, who will be judged for his captaincy in the three-match ODI series against South Africa beginning on Wednesday.
Whether he is batting in the middle or fielding at the boundary line, Kohli's every move is tracked but some of that attention will now have to be shared by Rahul.
More importantly, will he be at his usual animated best on the field or will the cricketing world see a rather subdued Kohli after his stunning resignation from Test captaincy brought an end to his innings as official leader of the team across formats?
He did not want to leave ODI captaincy after relinquishing the role in the shortest format and it led to a war of words with the BCCI on how the entire matter was handled.
His supporters and Indian cricket in general will be hoping that Kohli has put his differences with the BCCI firmly behind him and come Wednesday, he starts a new innings with his willow doing most of the talking.
A highly desired century after two years would be cherry on top.
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.
Match starts 2 PM IST.
The winds of change are blowing rather fast in Indian cricket. It started with Virat Kohli resigning as Team India's T20 captain. Rohit Sharma was then elevated to the role of captain in both ODIs and T20Is, despite Kohli's insistence to continue as 50-overs captain.
With the dust settling down after a week-long controversy involving Kohli and BCCI, it was time for the African safari. It was India's best chance to win a series and script history in South Africa.
The start was promising, the end disappointing. If a series loss was a hard pill to swallow, Kohli stepping down as Test captain was a bolt from the blue.
