India vs South Africa 2020: 3 Proteas to watch out for in the ODI series

South Africa are in a rebuilding phase with a new captain at the helm and fresh faces being given opportunities. The South African team management would be pleased with the results of late. They drew an ODI series against England, which was Quinton de Kock’s first stint as a captain in ODI series. In their last ODI series, they whitewashed a full-strength Australian side at home.

The ODI leg against the kangaroos should be a big boost for the Proteas. The biggest positive for South Africa, in recent times, was the way, other players stepped up. Against Australia, the skipper de Kock had an off series. However, the likes of Heinrich Klassen, Janneman Malan, JJ Smuts, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje stood tall for their team.

The last time South Africa played an ODI series in India was in October 2015, which they won by 3-2. However, they had AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir then. And, in the current segment, the visitors will miss the services of the mentioned players and will be competing against a comparatively stronger Indian side. Because of their current form, South Africa will be high on confidence while facing India in an away series.

In this article, we have mentioned three South African players to watch out for in the ODI series:

1. Temba Bavuma

Temba Bavuma was in the race (he still is) to cement his place in the limited-overs sides of South Africa. However, a hamstring injury forced him to miss three T20Is and a couple of ODIs against Australia. Janneman Malan was given the opportunity in the 50-over format and he grabbed his chances well, playing a match-winning knock in the second ODI against Australia. Malan who did not find himself in the squad for this series earlier was included in the squad later. And, now, Bavuma is facing a direct competition against Malan.

The right-handed batsman has tasted a lot of success in his short white-ball career so far. In ODIs, he averages about 56 with a strike rate of over 92 with a fifty and a century to his name. Bavuma averages close to 50 with a strike rate of over 136 in the shortest format at the international level. The Cape Town-born might get the nod ahead of Malan because of a few factors.

He returned with scores of 49 and 27 albeit with a substandard strike rate in the T20 series between India and South Africa which was in India last year. Bavuma is also a better player of spin as compared to Malan. South Africa have faced issues against spin bowling in recent years, and Bavuma is a good option to encounter that. The 29-year-old has pretty good gameplay for this format. He plays safe at the beginning of his inning, has different gears in his batting and can accelerate well when required.