After winning the third and final Test in Johannesburg, the Indian cricket team avoided the humiliating whitewash against a strong South African side. However, the visitors lost the three-match rubber 1-2 but showed immense grit and gumption to put up a brave fight in alien conditions. Now, the Indian team are back on the ground, gearing up for the ODI series which commences from February 1. The morale-boosting win at Wanderers has given the Virat Kohli's men a 'belief' a before the six-match ODI series. Both the teams are the top two ranked nations in the world in the 50-over format.
On Tuesday, BCCI's official Twitter handle posted some pictures from the practice session in Durban. Former skipper MS Dhoni is back in the squad and has started his training along with the other teammates. Kedhar Jadhav who missed the Sri Lanka series due to injury last year is also back in action for the ODI series.
Batsmen Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik are also back in the ODI squad. Once again the eyes will be on young Shreyas Iyer who gave fantastic performance against the Lankans at home in December.
With Dhoni by his side, Virat Kohli will now feel a little relaxed on the field in the presence of the world cup winning skipper. Also, the return of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel will strengthen India's bowling unit for the ODI series. The Men in Blue will have to think the bowling unit through as the conditions in South Africa are more suitable for seamers. Mohammad Shami has been added to the ODI squad as well along with Shardul Thakur.
All the pressure boils down onto the Indian players on how well can they adapt to foreign conditions and will majorly have to rely on their experienced players for results.
India ODI squad vs South Africa: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.
