SA vs Ind: Battered visitors look to salvage some pride in final ODI

Having lost the ongoing ODI series against South Africa, KL Rahul-led India would look to salvage some pride by winning the final match, and avoiding a whitewash.

The third and final ODI will be a chance for Virat Kohli to end the tour on a high as he would look to end his century drought. Kohli had last registered an international century way back in 2019 as he scored a ton against Bangladesh in the day-night Test at the Eden Gardens. After that, the batter managed to breach half-century several times, but the three-figure mark has kept on evading him.

India had suffered a 31-run loss in the first ODI while the KL Rahul-led side suffered a seven-wicket loss in the second game of the three-match series.

In the first two ODIs, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul both showed glimpses of brilliance, but they failed to get it together as a unit, and the duo would hope to go all the way in the final match. Rishabh Pant impressed one and all with his 85-run knock in the second ODI, and the wicketkeeper would look to continue with his form.

Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer have failed to impress with the bat so it needs to be seen whether the team management wants to have a look at Suryakumar Yadav in the final ODI. Talking about bowling, India has been lacklustre in the ongoing series with Bhuvneshwar Kumar giving the worst performance of them all.

It looks like the time is running out for Bhuvneshwar and the team management might give a chance to Mohammed Siraj who is waiting within the wings. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal have bowled probing spells but the wickets have kept on evading them.

It has only been Jasprit Bumrah who has been a shining light with the ball, but in the second ODI, the pacer once again failed to pick a wicket in the powerplay overs, and this costed the Men in Blue as the side failed to defend 287.

Talking about the Proteas, the Temba Bavuma-led side has punched above their weight, and this has seen the side backup the Test series with an ODI series triumph. Both batting and bowling have come together for the hosts, and South Africa would look to continue with the same.

India ODI squad: KL Rahul (captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj, Jayant Yadav, Navdeep Saini

South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (captain), Keshav Maharaj, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Zubayr Hamza, Marco Jansen, Janneman Malan, Sisanda Magala, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne.