• India vs South Africa first match to be played in Ranchi


• How will the Indian team be?


• Who will do the opening?

KL Rahul-led Indian cricket team from Sunday (November 30). against South Africa Will participate in the three-match ODI series. The series starts from Sunday. The first ODI will be played at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi. KL Rahul will lead the host Indian team in the absence of Shubman Gill.

In place of Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rituraj Gaikwad are available as openers. It is highly likely that Jaiswal will be preferred over Chennai Super Kings captain Gaikwad. This is likely to happen at least in the first match of the series.

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What are the odds?

Yashasvi Jaiswal has played only one ODI for India so far. He was also part of India’s ODI squad in Australia, but did not get a chance to be part of the final eleven. Virat Kohli was dismissed twice for no runs in the first two ODIs against Australia, but bounced back with an unbeaten half-century in the third ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Kohli will bat at number three as usual. It remains to be seen which of Rishabh Pant and Tilak Verma will be given the chance to play as the number four batsman in Shreyas Iyer’s absence. Both Pant and Tilak Verma have not played a single ODI for India in 2025.

Which number will Tilak Verma bat at?

Captain Rahul is India’s first-choice wicketkeeper in ODIs. Hence, Indian team management may consider playing specialist batsman Tilak at number four. The left-handed batsman from Hyderabad also captained India A in three unofficial ODIs against South Africa A recently. Rahul will bat at number five and Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy will be the three all-rounders in Team India’s XI.

Kuldeep Yadav played only one ODI in Australia, but that against South Africa All three ODIs will be played and the pace bowling responsibility will be on the shoulders of Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh. Pacer Krishna is also included in the 15-man ODI squad selected for South Africa, but the Karnataka cricketer is less likely to be given priority over Rana and Arshdeep.

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How about a potential union

India’s probable final squad for the first ODI against South Africa: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Verma, KL Rahul (captain, wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh.