Having been outplayed in the shortest format, there will be added pressure on captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to perform and lead India from the front against a formidable South African unit in the five-match ODI cricket series that begins here today.
It's time for Dhoni to answer his critics as more and more questions are being raised against his captaincy at a juncture where heir apparent and Test captain Virat Kohli is waiting in the wings. He enters his 'litmus test' having lost the T20 series and an unexpected loss in Bangladesh in June, after which he went out of action for three months.
On the face of it, India appear to have a well-balanced side but it will have anything but easy against the South Africans, who are high on confidence after an emphatic T20 series win.
One can expect a few changes in the Indian team set-up though it is more or less the same squad that featured in T20s. Umesh Yadav returns to the side to provide a much needed zing in the pace attack while batting all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh Mann would be waiting with bated breath to make his India debut after a string of stellar performances at the A and domestic level.
While Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are likely to open, Ajinkya Rahane can find himself playing in the middle-order again replacing Ambati Rayudu, who was out for 0 in the two T20s.
On the bowling front, Dhoni faces a bigger headache with his attack putting up a pedestrian performance at Dharamsala and Cuttack. South African attack, on other hand, looks ominous with the return of Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, who were rested in the shortest format.
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