SA vs IND, 4th ODI, Preview: Proteas hope to change fortunes as Jo'burg turns pink

Johannesburg will turn pink as South Africa take on India in the fourth ODI with the visitors on the ascendency. Having secured an un-passable lead in the previous ODI at Cape Town, Virat Kohli will be hoping to wrap up the series on a ground they have performed reasonably well on. While the Wanderers in One-Dayers has proven to be belters with runs scored in tandem at The Bullring, the Indians will be fancying their chances of wrapping up the series.

In stark contrast to the visitors, the South Africans have been in terrible form, to say the least. They have faltered with both bat and ball and rather surprisingly, have capitulated time and again to the Indian wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. However, the return of AB de Villiers to the side, while adding a lot more stability and backbone to the Proteas batting unit, will also be a morale boost for the hosts. In addition, Aiden Markram will take solace in the fact that his side is unbeaten in the ‘Pink ODIs’ so far.

The Johannesburg wicket is known to be a belter in ODIs at least. The famed ‘Bullring’ is also one of the smaller stadiums in terms of distance from the wicket to the boundary.

Toss: India won the toss and opted to bat

South Africa (Playing XI): Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram(c), Jean-Paul Duminy, AB de Villiers, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Lungisani Ngidi, Morne Morkel

Changes: AB replaces Zondo. Morkel comes in for Tahir

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah

Changes: Shreyas Iyer comes in for injured Kedar Jadhav

Playing Combination

South Africa

The hosts have made changes in every match so far though they’ve been forced due to the injuries to their key player. There will be at least one change for the Pink ODI as the most loved cricketer in the world AB de Villiers is returning after recovering from the injury he sustained during the Test series. He will most likely take the place of Khaya Zondo who has underperformed significantly. Also, Morne Morkel is expected to return after being rested in the last match.

There are speculations that Kagiso Rabada might be rested but the team management would want him to play as the series is on the line for South Africa. JP Duminy should continue batting at number 3 after an impressive outing in the last match at the same position.

Probable XI: Aiden Markram (C), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Heinrich Klassen (WK), JP Duminy, David Miller, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Imran Tahir, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel

India

On the other hand, the Men in Blue are enjoying a happy space and there are no reasons to change the winning combination for them which was worked perfectly so far. Though there is a possibility that Kedar Jadhav might have to sit out given he was injured while fielding in Cape Town. Manish Pandey will come in to replace him at number 6 if that is the case. No other changes are expected as the visitors will be looking to shut the door for the Proteas.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav/Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

Head to Head

Matches – 80, South Africa – 45, India – 32, N/R – 3

Focus will be on

AB de Villiers

The man who turned the first couple of Test matches on its head with his counter-attacking approach is all set to return to the field in his favourite Pink ODI. The fastest hundred in the format was struck on the same occasion by him and he loves the atmosphere at the Bullring. South Africa need him badly and it is imperative that he scores a century for his team and win them the game. It would be hard on him to expect a big innings right away but champions thrive in such situations and de Villiers is undoubtedly one of those.

MS Dhoni

There is no doubt about the wicketkeeping skills of MS Dhoni as he completed 400 dismissals behind the wicket the other day. But of late his batting has been under the scanner and more so his slow starts which puts the batsman at the other end under pressure. He struggled to rotate the strike during his stay in the middle at Newlands and could only score 10 off 22 deliveries. Dhoni will surely look to make amends if he gets the chance to bat at Wanderers on Saturday.

StatAttack

In Pink ODIs – AB de Villiers has scored 450 runs in 5 outings at a strike rate of 156.79 and has smashed two centuries to go with a couple of scores more than 50 as well.

3 – Kuldeep Yadav has picked 3 at least three wickets in his last four ODI matches.

Timings of the match: 04:30 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV: Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3 (Hindi Commentary)

Online: SonyLIV

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