India Vs South Africa 2020: Three Players Who Might Not Get A Single Game During The ODI Series

Even though South Africa had mixed returns in the first part of the India tour in 2019, the two sides would meet for the first ODI following contrasting fortunes.

The Proteas are coming off handing a series sweep to Australia at home while India suffered a whitewash (3-0) against New Zealand a month ago.

However, beating the Men in Blue on their turf is a different challenge altogether.

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And even after a packed season and realizing the ones laying ahead, the selectors have named a full-strength squad.

The new panel of Indian selectors have also welcomed the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, all of whom have successfully recovered from their injuries.

Hence, the trio’s boost would also present the think-tank with some selection conundrums.

We take a look at three players who might not get a single game during the ODI series:

Rishabh Pant:

Rishabh Pant last played an ODI against Australia in January in Mumbai. Due to concussion in that match, he was ruled out of the subsequent two games.

At the same time, KL Rahul’s superlative show with the bat since then has left no room for Pant in the middle-order.

Since the first ODI in Mumbai against Australia, Rahul has had scores of 80, 19, 88, 4, and 112.

The Karnataka-lad is also getting better with each game behind the stumps, a department in which Pant had plenty of catching up to do.

Hence, all these factors make Rahul undroppable, leaving Pant little chance of making a comeback.

Shubhman Gill:

The think-tank came under the scanner for not giving Shubhman Gill his first Test cap after India faced a drubbing against the Black Caps.

In recent times, Gill has been in red-hot form in all forms of the game.

Despite having a List A average of 45.60 in 57 games, the Punjab batsman hasn’t received an extended run in 50-over internationals.

He played a couple of ODIs back in 2019 in New Zealand, making scores of 9 and 7. While Prithvi Shaw‘s knocks so far haven’t been imposing enough, he made three promising starts in a row in New Zealand.

Shaw will likely open the innings along with Dhawan with Gill possibly warming the bench for the entire series.

Navdeep Saini:

Since his debut against West Indies in December 2019, Navdeep Saini has taken five wickets in five games at 60.20. His pace bowling has occasionally done the holding work.

However, hasn’t picked wickets as frequently as India would have wanted.

In two matches in New Zealand, he failed to pick a single wicket. His best series so far was against Australia in which he picked three scalps in two fixtures.

With Bhuvneshwar Kumar back in the fold, he would most likely take the new ball alongside Jasprit Bumrah.

The likes of Hardik Pandya will partner the new-ball bowling pair as the medium pacer.

Unless there is an injury concern, it leaves little chance for Saini to come back in the reckoning.

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