Sun, 19 January , 2025 Home About Us Advertisement Contact Us
Breaking News

Time India set record straight

Durban, Fired up by a consolatory win in the final Test, a resurgent India will be aiming for their first bilateral ODI series triumph on the South African soil when they take on the Proteas in a six-match rubber, starting here tomorrow. With only 14 months to go for the 2019 ODI World Cup, India will also look to kick off their preparations for the mega event during the series.
Even as India will have one eye on the World Cup, they will be intent on winning their first-ever bilateral ODI series in South Africa. For the record, India have lost 5-2 in 1992-93, 4-0 in 2006-07, 3-2 in 2010-11 and 2-0 in 2013-14 in South Africa. They were also part of two triangular series in 1996-97 and 2001-02, featuring Zimbabwe and Kenya, respectively, but the Proteas emerged victors on both occasions.
In 27 meetings since 1992-93 in South Africa, the Proteas have won 21 matches, while India have only won five. Such a poor record will not sit well with the current team management that is intent on improving India’s all-round showing in overseas conditions.
Additionally, India have a very lop-sided ODI record at Durban. In seven ODIs against South Africa at this venue, they have lost six, with one no-result. India did beat England and Kenya here though, during the 2003 World Cup.
Also at stake is the small matter of achieving the No. 1 spot in ICC’s ODI rankings. Currently, South Africa sit atop with 120 points, while India are second with 119 points. While the ODI rankings change after every match, a cumulative 4-2 series win will be enough to help India achieve the top spot.
Good run

Nevertheless, India’s fantastic run in ODIs in the last two years gives their fans a lot of hope. Since losing 4-1 in Australia (January 2016), the Men in Blue haven’t lost a single bilateral ODI series, home or away. In this interim, they have beaten Zimbabwe, New Zealand (twice), England, West Indies, Sri Lanka (twice) and Australia, winning 24 out of 32 bilateral matches. Their only tournament loss came in the 2017 Champions Trophy (in England), where they lost to Pakistan in the final.
No. 4 conundrum

The team management will need to weigh a few options before they pencil in a name for the No. 4 slot. With the return of Virat Kohli after missing the ODIs/T20Is series against Sri Lanka in December, there is only one middle-order spot to be decided.
Shreyas Iyer gave a good account of himself, scoring two half-centuries in three matches against Sri Lanka, and is a front-runner for the job. But experience could be of greater value in South African conditions, so Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey are also in the running. Besides, Ajinkya Rahane is always there.
As for South Africa, they will start the series with a massive handicap as AB de Villiers has been ruled out for at least the first three ODIs due to an injured finger. “AB is not playing this game, so Aiden Markram is coming into his place,” said South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis.
‘Rahane No. 4 candidate for WC’
India skipper Virat Kohli today said the experimentation in the middle-order will continue for some more time even as he admitted that conditions make Ajinkya Rahane a strong No. 4 candidate for the World Cup in England next year. He also said that there was already a core group of players in place, and only the No. 4 spot needed to be sorted out.
“We have explored many options in the last few months. We don’t have too many series and too much time left before the World Cup, so we want to explore all the options before the big event,” said Kohli. “I had said earlier that Ajinkya Rahane would be looked at as a third opener but that situation can change because he has batted at No. 4 in a World Cup (in 2015) before. These conditions are such that you get to play fast bowling throughout the innings, so he becomes a strong candidate for No. 4.
“Other than him we have Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey. We don’t want to be one-dimensional. It depends whose technique is more suited to what spot, especially in that particular country. All options are open,” he added.
Kohli said while picking a player, character is given more importance than skills. “For us as team management, we look at characters before we look at skill… We look for game-changers, we look for guys who embrace pressure, we look for guys who want to be in difficult situations because in ODIs you don’t have another day to come back. You have to make decisions there and then,” he said.
Tell-tale Numbers
4 India have played four bilateral series in South Africa and have lost all four. Out of these four series, the Proteas have whitewashed India twice. The Men in Blue lost 5-2 in 1992-93, 4-0 in 2006-07, 3-2 in 2010-11 and 2-0 in 2013-14
7 In seven ODIs against South Africa at Durban since 1992-93, India haven’t won a fingle match. While six ended in a defeat for them, one finished with no result.
17 South Africa have won their last 17 matches on the trot at home. The wins include:
The last 3 matches of their Feb 2016 series against England
A one-off match against Ireland (September, 2016)
Beating Australia 5-0 (Oct 2016)
Beating Sri Lanka 5-0 (Jan-Feb 2017)
Whitewashing Bangladesh 3-0 (Oct 2017)
5 Number of ODIs India have won out of 27 played in South Africa

Comments

comments