Indian ODI team set to take off for South Africa next week

After a disappointing start to the tour of South Africa, the Indian team will be hoping to salvage a win in the 3rd and final Test of the series to avoid a whitewash. The Proteas have been dominant in the first two Test matches. Although India reached the summit of the ICC Test rankings, their away form has been abysmal. After the final Test which will be played at Johannesburg, both the teams will clash in a 6-match ODI series and three T20Is.

Many ODI specialists will join the squad for the limited-overs leg of the tour. The squad include veteran MS Dhoni, Manish Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Axar Patel, and others. Shardul Thakur is also a part of the ODI squad, but the pacer has flown to South Africa ahead of the 3rd Test to bowl in the nets. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik also arrived early to replace the injured Wriddhiman Saha.

The ODI series starts on February 1 in Durban. All matches will begin at 4:30 PM IST and the final match will be played on 16th February in Centurion. India will be hoping to bounce back in the limited-overs format after taking a beating in the longest format of the game.

The visitors will also play a 3-match T20I series following the ODIs. The T20Is will be played on 18th, 21st and 24th of February. After fielding a weakened XI against Sri Lanka in the T20I matches, but have picked a star-studded lineup for the Proteas challenge.

While some of the Test specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and the two spinners will fly back home after the third match others like captain Virat Kohli and opener Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, along with the others will stay back to participate in the rest of the tour.

India ODI squad –

Virat Kohli (C) Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.

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