South Africa routed India by huge margins at Johannesburg and Durban, and they now travel to Centurion with new found confidence. Much needed confidence that was lacking in them, before this assignment happened. India’s much famed batting line up, on the other hand, has been caught napping – humbled to the very end. The dead rubber on Wednesday isn’t quite dead, as South Africa now have the chance of clean-sweeping this series and getting back at all the off-field bullying that they faced by the cash rich BCCI, before the series started. And the Indian players have an opportunity to get their act together and hope that they manage to salvage some pride out of the final one-dayer.
India
India’s performances at Johannesburg and Durban were disappointing to say the least. It was rather disheartening to see such timid displays of performance, after all the flat-track domination against Australia and West Indies during the home season. With the top three consistently performing, and claiming to have had the experience of playing fast bowlers (albeit in the IPL), there were high hopes of them pulling off an ODI series win in South Africa, that has been long overdue.
However, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan haven’t been able to put first wicket stands like the South Africans have. Add to that, Virat Kohli’s inability to stay at the wicket for a longer duration has ensured that the pressure has been on the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, who haven’t quite been in their best of form lately.
India now need to keep a check on the runs scored by the opposition in the death, and to try and get an early breakthrough in an attempt to end the Quinton de Kock juggernaut. Batting wise, the middle order badly needs to perform, with the spotlight being on how MS Dhoni manages to keep his team’s morale up, in the wake of such defeats.
South Africa
The South Africans have done a far superior job which has managed to rubbish all the pre-series talks of them being the underdogs. By exposing the weaknesses of the Indian batting against fast paced and short bowling, they have inflicted such terrible psychological wounds that it’s sure to haunt Team India even during the Test matches. Their opening batsmen have done a fantastic job in ensuring huge stands in both the games while the fast bowlers led by Dale Steyn have not allowed the Indian top order to settle down. What concerns South Africa though is the middle-order that faced a collapse in the 2nd ODI and the search for a batting position that utilizes Jacques Kallis’ experience. Since the series is done and dusted, it would be a good time for South Africa to test its bench strength.
Likely Teams
India: MS Dhoni (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh / Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami
South Africa: AB de Villiers (Capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and L Tsotsobe
Key Players
Virat Kohli: Belonging to the Kevin Pietersen brand of Cricket, India’s number three, simply loves adversity. So it’s been a surprise to see him not perform, especially considering his past performances overseas. Back in 2011/12 during the tour to Australia, when the Indian team was in shambles, this young gun from Delhi stood out with some astute knocks. He might just be a game away from breaking the shackles against South Africa’s fast bowling.
Quinton de Kock: It seems impossible to reign in this twenty-something wicketkeeper batsman, and considering how well he has performed at the top of the order, it would be some time till Graeme Smith gets his usual spot back. One won’t be surprised really if de Kock puts forward another class act and records a hat-trick of ODI centuries, a feat very few have achieved in the past.
Prediction: Unless something extraordinary happens, South Africa begin as favourites in this encounter. Although Team India would love to get a win under their belt before the Test matches start, expect them to go all out and prevent yet another overseas whitewash.
India
India’s performances at Johannesburg and Durban were disappointing to say the least. It was rather disheartening to see such timid displays of performance, after all the flat-track domination against Australia and West Indies during the home season. With the top three consistently performing, and claiming to have had the experience of playing fast bowlers (albeit in the IPL), there were high hopes of them pulling off an ODI series win in South Africa, that has been long overdue.
However, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan haven’t been able to put first wicket stands like the South Africans have. Add to that, Virat Kohli’s inability to stay at the wicket for a longer duration has ensured that the pressure has been on the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, who haven’t quite been in their best of form lately.
India now need to keep a check on the runs scored by the opposition in the death, and to try and get an early breakthrough in an attempt to end the Quinton de Kock juggernaut. Batting wise, the middle order badly needs to perform, with the spotlight being on how MS Dhoni manages to keep his team’s morale up, in the wake of such defeats.
South Africa
The South Africans have done a far superior job which has managed to rubbish all the pre-series talks of them being the underdogs. By exposing the weaknesses of the Indian batting against fast paced and short bowling, they have inflicted such terrible psychological wounds that it’s sure to haunt Team India even during the Test matches. Their opening batsmen have done a fantastic job in ensuring huge stands in both the games while the fast bowlers led by Dale Steyn have not allowed the Indian top order to settle down. What concerns South Africa though is the middle-order that faced a collapse in the 2nd ODI and the search for a batting position that utilizes Jacques Kallis’ experience. Since the series is done and dusted, it would be a good time for South Africa to test its bench strength.
Likely Teams
India: MS Dhoni (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh / Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami
South Africa: AB de Villiers (Capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and L Tsotsobe
Key Players
Virat Kohli: Belonging to the Kevin Pietersen brand of Cricket, India’s number three, simply loves adversity. So it’s been a surprise to see him not perform, especially considering his past performances overseas. Back in 2011/12 during the tour to Australia, when the Indian team was in shambles, this young gun from Delhi stood out with some astute knocks. He might just be a game away from breaking the shackles against South Africa’s fast bowling.
Quinton de Kock: It seems impossible to reign in this twenty-something wicketkeeper batsman, and considering how well he has performed at the top of the order, it would be some time till Graeme Smith gets his usual spot back. One won’t be surprised really if de Kock puts forward another class act and records a hat-trick of ODI centuries, a feat very few have achieved in the past.
Prediction: Unless something extraordinary happens, South Africa begin as favourites in this encounter. Although Team India would love to get a win under their belt before the Test matches start, expect them to go all out and prevent yet another overseas whitewash.
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