Daijiworld Media Network

Johannesburg, Dec 5: A shorterned tour to South Africa is not what the fans would have wanted but with board politics involved, even a mini version of the original tour is something that cricket fanatics would happily welcome. It is a tour that is going to put a young Indian brigade to test. An ODI series in the beginning works to India's advantage very well as they are the current reigning champions of the format. A positive start now would help them understand the conditions before the Tests. However, it is not going to be an easy task to defeat the South Africans, who have an impressive record at home.

India have won the toss and have opted to field

ABDV: 'Not sure what I would have done, but we need to play well. We sorted out a few things against Pakistan, we need to do well here again st the world champions. It is the pink day, we are raring to go. Kallis and Steyn are back for us.'

Dhoni: 'We are looking to bowl first, we have still not figured out how to bowl with a wet ball. We have made the most of whatever practise we could manage. Most of the players have played in such conditions before, this will give a lot of exposure for our youngsters. We are looking forward to a nice contest. Same team that we played in the last match against West Indies.'

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers(c), Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Pitch report: 'There is a good grass covering on the pitch. It is a kind of wicket that one might expect in a Test match. There will be a bit of movement for the fast bowlers. The captain winning the toss will definitely like to bowl first and restrict the opposition to a low total', reckons Shaun Pollock.

Having said that, one cannot deny that South Africa have had a poor run in ODIs this year. With their latest loss coming against Pakistan at home, the visitors will like to strike now when the hosts are most vulnerable. India, on the other hand, are solid at the top in the ODI rankings. With a formidable top order, they would be raring to go and continue their winning momentum.

Preview by Gokul Gopal

MS Dhoni reckoned that board politics and the shortened South Africa tour will not lead to any tension on the field but India will face some heat and are likely to be welcomed by a hostile crowd at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg when they take on the hosts in the first of the three One-Dayers. The top-ranked ODI side will be looking to further strengthen their position at the top of the table and register their first series win in South Africa. Meanwhile, the Proteas, who are currently ranked fifth, will be aiming for a clean-sweep that will help them move up to the third spot along with England.

Head to head:

South Africa, who have played 67 ODIs against India so far, have won 40 times and lost 25 games while two matches yielded no results. This puts the Proteas' win percentage against India at 59.70 while it gets even better for South Africa at home. With 19 wins and 5 losses out of the 25 games at home against India, South Africa's win percentage is an impressive 76.

South Africa:

While South Africa have the numbers going their way, their form in ODI cricket this year has not been all that impressive. Apart from a series loss to New Zealand, a series loss in Sri Lanka and their ouster in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy, South Africa have played Pakistan in three ODI series this year - their latest being their first ever series loss against Pakistan, which happened at home. The loss was probably because of complacency which the Proteas will look to completely eliminate in the series against India and will accept nothing short of a 100% from the players.

The Proteas have a power-packed batting order but what has hurt them recently is that they have not been consistent. Hashim Amla has been in good touch and the couple of useful outings that he has had in the last two ODIs augers well for the team. Graeme Smith on the other hand, has had a couple of failures and the left-handed opener needs to step up and show more solidity. Quinton de Kock, who is slated at number three, has shown a lot of promise but has not converted his starts into bigger contributions. Jacques Kallis, AB de Viliers and JP Duminy, having scored a fifty each in the previous series, will be hoping to come up with more such contributions against India while the hosts will also be hoping for David Miller to get amongst the runs. As mentioned earlier, South Africa have a strong batting line-up but the batters need to show better application if they are achieve the big scores they are very capable of.

If the batting line-up is impressive, The Proteas have an even stronger bowling unit. The presence of Dale Steyn, who recently picked up a career best 6/39, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel makes the pace department a formidable one. They also have quality options in the form of Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Ryan McLaren. With the all-round abilities of Kallis and Duminy and the leg-spin of Imran Tahir, South Africa have a well-balanced attack. All the hosts will be hoping for is that the bowlers do their jobs right, going up against the ODI champs, who will be banking on their strong batting department to deliver.

India:

The Indians are having a superb run in ODI cricket, not having lost a single series so far this year. (The ODI series against Pakistan started on December 30th 2012, hence not considered in this context). Following a series win against England at home, India clinched the Champions Trophy before winning the tri-series in the Caribbean and handing Zimbabwe a white-wash. With wins against Australia and West Indies just behind them, the confident Indian team, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will be hoping to end 2013 on a flawless note.

India's top order has three players from the top-5 list of highest run-scorers in ODIs this year. While India has been well served by Virat Kohli, who has got the most runs in ODI cricket this year, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan too have been amassing it big. India do not have a problem at the top but the middle order has not been all that consistent. Yuvraj Singh, who has had a poor run this year, found some form with a half-century against West Indies in the last match. The left-hander, who is an important member of the Indian team, will be hoping to build on that and come up with consistent showings in the upcoming games. Two more left-handers - Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja - have also not been doing all that well with the bat and they will be seeking improvement. MS Dhoni, who has quite often laid the finishing touches and has best average among the Indian batters this year, will also have an important role to play.

The focus will be on India's bowling performance, especially the pacers, who have not been helped by the placid sub-continent tracks in recent times. In the series against Australia, the flat decks and the new ODI rules were loaded heavily in favour of the batsmen, making a mockery of the bowlers. Against West Indies, they came up with a slightly improved performance and it is to be seen if they can take some confidence from that and deliver on the South African tracks, which will provide the quick bowlers some assistance. India's highest wicket-taker this year, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin will also be expected to pose some questions to the South African batsmen, who found it tough against the Pakistani spinners.

Team News:

The South African team has received a big boost with news emerging that Steyn and Kallis have been declared fit for the opening ODI after recovering from minor injuries. With both these seniors returning, all-rounder Ryan McLaren, despite being South Africa's highest wicket-taker this year, may find himself out of the eleven. Meanwhile, India are unlikely to make too many changes to the team that played against West Indies. However, Umesh Yadav, considering his pace and the South African conditions, might get to play ahead of Mohit Sharma.

Pitch and weather:

The batsmen are likely to have the upper hand in this game as the ball generally comes on to the bat on the Wanderers track. In the last two ODIs played here, 300 scores were achieved in both the innings and that might be the case in this match as well. As far as the weather is concerned, rain is predicted for the evening, which means that a curtailed game is very much on the cards and toss might prove to be a crucial factor.

Numbers:

11: The number of runs Graeme Smith requires to reach the mark of 7000 in ODI cricket. He will become the third South African with 7000 or more in case he gets the required number of runs.

5: The number of wickets R Ashwin needs to reach the mark of 100 ODI wickets. In case he gets five or more in this game, he will become the joint fourth fastest Indian along with Javagal Srinath to the 100-wicket mark.

3: The number of dismissals MS Dhoni needs to get to the 300-dismissals mark. He will become the first Indian and the fourth player to do so in case he gets the required number of dismissals.

Quotes:

I have had a look at the wicket and there's a lot of grass on it. It hasn't seen a lot of sun yet. But it should play the same over the course of 100 overs. Whether we bat first or second, or bowl first or second, I am not too fussed about that: AB de Villiers.

What we have seen in ODIs here is that the pitches provide something for the fast bowlers but at the same time, if you are a batsman who likes the ball coming on to the bat, this is the place to play. Johannesburg can be a high-scoring venue: MS Dhoni.