IND vs SA ODI: 5 Indian Players With The Best ODI Batting Average In South Africa

India and South Africa face off in a three-match ODI series after the end the Test series which they lost 2-1. The first two games of the IND vs ODI series (January 19, 21) will be played in Paarl while Cape Town will host the third ODI on January 23. This is also the first ODI series for both teams in the new calendar year of 2022. Both teams have announced their squads for the series with KL Rahul leading India while Temba Bavuma leading the Protean side.

The Indian batsman would like to make amends in the ODI series. With no Rohit Sharma in the series, KL Rahul will be opening the batting as he confirmed in the pre-match press conference. Along with him, Shikhar Dhawan will be opening from the other end. Virat Kohli will play as a player along with the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer who have been drafted into the side for the white-ball series. 

In this article, we will take a look at five Indian batsmen with best batting average against South Africa in ODIs. 

IND vs SA ODI: 5 Indian Players With The Best ODI Batting Average In South Africa

Virat Kohli – 86.88

The former Indian skipper tops the list of Indians with the best batting average against South Africa. He scored 558 runs when India toured the rainbow nation last in 2018. He heads into this series with a few records up his sleeve. He is 26 runs sort of becoming the second-highest run-getter against the Proteas. Sachin Tendulkar leads the list with 2001 runs with Kohli on 1287 runs.

Also Read: SA vs IND: India’s Predicted Playing XI Against South Africa– India vs South Africa 2022, 1st ODI

Rahul Dravid – 51.20

The former Indian skipper maintains a batting average of over 50. He has scored 930 runs in South Africa in ODIs and is the third-highest run-getter after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Dravid is also the new head coach of the Indian cricket team who has taken over from Ravi Shastri post the T20 World Cup last year.

Shikhar Dhawan -49.87

With 798 runs against South Africa in ODIs in South Africa, Dhawan is amongst the top Indian run-getters against the Proteas. He scored 323 runs in six games and ended as the second-highest run-getter in the 2018 ODI series. He also scored a century in that series. 

Mohammad Azharuddin- 41.72

Azharuddin has scored 459 runs in 12 innings in South Africa in ODIs. He has maintained an average of 41.72 which ranks him fourth in the list of Indian batsmen with the best batting averages in South Africa. He retired from the game in 2000 having played  99 Test matches and 334 ODIs scoring nearly 16000 international runs.

Ajinkya Rahane-35

Also Read: IND vs SA ODI: 5 Indian Players Who Have Picked The Most Wickets In ODIs In South Africa