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

Despite losing the first Test, South Africa made a brilliant comeback in the recently concluded Test series against India and won it by a 2-1 margin. With that win, they hold on to the winning record at home against India in Tests. The Proteas would be keen to replicate a similar result ahead of the upcoming three-match ODI series against the same team.

The first ODI is slated to take place on Boland Park, Paarl on Wednesday. Here’s a look at our predicted playing XI of the South Africa Cricket Team for the first ODI.

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

Openers: Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock 

Quinton de Kock, who recently announced his retirement from Test Cricket, will be making his presence felt in the ODI series. He is likely to open the batting or might come at lower down the order.

His partner, Janneman Malan will definitely be a player to watch out for. He has made a dream start to his career. In 11 ODIs, Malan has managed to score over 600 runs at an average of 82.6. It will be interesting to see how he fares in the series.

Middle-Order: Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen

Aiden Markram played blistering knocks while batting in the middle-order in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. He had a poor outing in the recently concluded Test series but would be hoping to bounce back strongly in the ODIs.

Both Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Russen played match-defining knocks in the Test series against India. Both are key to South Africa’s fortune in the ODI series as well.

All-rounder: Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwayne Pretorius 

The presence of Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwayne Pretorius adds a lot more balance to South Africa’s batting unit. The duo adds depth to the batting unit and also provides more options in the bowling unit.

Dwayne Pretorius has bowled admirably of late for South Africa and has become their designated death-over bowler. Expect him to have a significant impact in the series.

Bowlers: Keshav Maharaj, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, and Tabraiz Shamsi 

Both Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi should make the cut for the first ODI. The duo adds variety to this bowling unit and is likely to have a big impact in the series.

Kagiso Rabada should lead the fast bowling unit. For the last fast bowler slot, Marco Jansen might get the not ahead of Lungi Ngidi after witnessing his heroic performances in the Test series.