The first of three One Day Internationals between India and South Africa takes place at Dharamsala on Thursday and these sides experienced very contrasting fortunes in their most recent ation in this format of the game.
This is a 3 match series with the second contest due to take place in Lucknow on Sunday and the series concludes in Kolkata on Wednesday of next week.
Let's start with the squads.
India are without Rohit Sharma and will select from the following group.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill
Tabraiz Shamsi is unavailable for South Africa so George Linde gets a call up and the Proteas have named the following touring party.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (c & wk), Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Jon-Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Anrich Nortje, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan.
ODI Form:
India were in New Zealand last month and they lost all 3 ODI's by margins of 4 wickets, 22 runs and 5 wickets. In January they hosted Australia in a home series and although they lost the first match by 10 wickets India hit back to take the next 2 by 36 runs and then 7 wickets for a 2-1 series win.
The Proteas were very much underdogs for the recently concluded 3 match home series against Australia but they completed a clean sweep with victory margins of 74 runs and 6 wickets (twice). South Africa's only other 50 over format action since the 2019 CWC came against England earlier this month. Again it was a 3 match series with the Proteas drawing first blood with a 7 wicket win in Cape Town. The second ODI in Durban was abandoned and England squared the series with a 2 wicket victory in Johannesburg.
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
India have played just 4 ODI's at this venue, winning 2 and losing 2. In 2013 they lost to England by 7 wickets. In 2014 they beat West Indies by 59 runs and in 2016 they beat New Zealand by 6 wickets.The most recent ODI took place in December 2017 and India were beaten by Sri Lanka by a 7 wicket margin.
Weather Forecast – Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
Head to Head
The most recent head to head came in the Cricket World Cup in Southampton in June 2019. The Proteas could manage only 227/9 batting first and India chased it down in 47.3 overs for a 6 wicket victory.
In South Africa in February 2018 a 6 match series was dominated by India who won 5-1.
The last series on Indian soil came in October 2015 and the Proteas edged it 3-2.
Overall the teams have met 84 times with India winning 35, South Africa have won 46 with 3 no results.
The Betting
At the time of writing India are hot favourites at 2/5 to win the series opener and South Africa can be backed at 19/10.
Kohli Is 43/20 to be top run scorer for India and Quinton de Kock is 5/2 to do likewise for the Proteas.Bumrah is 5/2 top be India's top bowler and Ngidi and Maharaj can be backed at 3/1 to be SA's top performer with the ball.
Note: Prices correct at the time of posting but are subject to change
The Verdict
The Proteas were excellent against Australia but conditions in this series will offer up a very different type of test and it will take a top performance to stay cometitive over the course of the series.
With no Rohit Sharma I will look to Shikhar Dhawan to top score for India. Faf du Plessis is back I the fold and fresh and he gets the vote to beat his individual runs quote of 28.5
Suggested Bets: Top Indian bat, Dhawan at 13/4
Batsman Runs, Faf du Plessis over 28.5 at 17/20
Sunbet, Claim your 1st deposit bonus of up to R1,000 here
