India, of late, have been playing cricket regularly without an optimum break. Virat Kohli and company stayed in New Zealand for about six weeks and didn’t have a great tour. Despite whitewashing the hosts in the T20I series, India underachieved in the other two formats. Now, a few weeks before the IPL 2020, the Men in Blue are scheduled to face South Africa in the three-match ODI series.

The Indian captain along with Ravi Shastri, the head coach, spoke that the 50-over format is not very relevant this year. And, the selectors have picked up almost a full-strength squad for this series. Rohit Sharma is recovering from the calf-injury and isn’t a part of the Indian squad.

The right-arm quick Mohammed Shami is also rested. The IPL is a long tournament, and, thus, the Indian selectors could have given rest to the likes of Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah who have been playing non-stop cricket in recent times.

Mayank Agarwal, Kedar Jadhav, Shivam Dube and Shardul Thakur have been dropped, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya are making a comeback. Shubman Gill is rewarded a place in the squad. Even though this series is not very significant, the Indian management is in no mood to take it lightly as the squad selection suggests.

In this article, we have featured four Indian players to watch out for in the ODI series:

1. Prithvi Shaw

In the ODI series against New Zealand, India opted to go with two inexperienced players at the top of the order. Prithvi Shaw got fair starts in all the games, however, he failed to register a big score. Anyway, the youngster did enough to secure his spot and the unavailability of Rohit has helped as well.

The most talked thing about the opening batsman is his ‘intent’. Shaw is a fearless batsman and scores at a quicker rate from the word go. His strike rate in List A cricket is over 118. And, Shaw averages above 44 in List A cricket. The 20-year-old can maximize the usage of the powerplay as he possesses the required intent and skills for that.

Shaw uses the horizontal bat shots well which adds another dimension in his gameplay. Considering the fact that the next ODI World Cup is in India, Shaw is definitely worth giving a go. The right-handed batsman is expected to open in all the matches of this series and will try to make the opportunity count.

2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Mohammed Shami who played a lot of cricket of late has been rested for this series. Thus, it is quite certain that Bhuvneshwar Kumar will feature in all the matches of this series. Bhuvi has been suffering from several injury issues in recent times. He, recently, was suffering from sports hernia injury and was out of the action for a while.

In his last four international matches: three T20Is and one ODI, his economy was nine or more in each game. The reason may be his fitness as he was returning from injury even then. The right-arm pacer struggled to bowl accurately then, and couldn’t nail the yorkers consistently. Now, he is making a comeback again and might find it difficult to get his rhythm.

The 30-year-old is India’s blue-chip fast-bowling personnel in the limited-overs cricket. Bhuvi has multiple variations in his arsenal and has a sharp brain. However, he hasn’t been at his best and fitness issues had a part to play.

In the recently held DY Patil T20 tournament, Bhuvi picked up just one wicket at an economy of about nine. India will need his services in the T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia and would be hoping him to regain his fitness as well as form.

3. Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya has been facing many injury issues of late and is returning to international cricket after a long time. Pandya looked in sublime touch in the DY Patil T20 tournament, finishing the tourney as the second-highest run-scorer and the leading wicket-taker. He also scored a couple of centuries and bagged a five-wicket haul. Whilst Hardik bowled in the DY Patil tournament, India might not ask him to bowl 10 overs.

The junior Pandya brother is one of the most improved players in recent times. He has worked on his power-hitting ability against pace bowling and is currently the best Indian player in that aspect. India missed their premium white-ball all-rounder of late because of two main reasons. The first is the balance which he brings to the side; his absence did show that.

The second is the lower middle-order as his return will strengthen the batting unit. The right-handed batsman can help India in getting a cushion on extra 15-20 runs because of his fireworks in the slog overs. It will be interesting to see if India slot him at six or seven. If India want the right-arm pacer to complete his quota, he can bat at seven. And, in the other case, Ravindra Jadeja might be asked to bat at the seventh position with Pandya at the sixth.

4. Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli, the best batsman of this generation, did not have a great time in India’s recent tour of New Zealand. Kohli managed to register only one half-century during the entire tour. He averaged 26.25 in the T20I series, 25 in the ODI series and just 9.50 in the Test series. The Indian captain will be itching to have some runs behind his back now.

There are no questions about Kohli’s skills and it’s just a matter of time him being among the runs. ODI is his best format and South Africa are his one of his favourite opponents. In 25 ODI innings against the Proteas, the number one ODI batsman has amassed 1,287 runs. Averaging over 64, Kohli boasts of scoring four tons and six fifties against South Africa.

However, Kohli does not have a very great record against South Africa in India. At home against the Proteas, he averages about 42 which about 17 less than his career ODI average. Also, one of the facts is that he last faced South Africa at home in 2015. And, since 2016, the 31-year-old has been an exceptional average of over 72 in India. The skipper will try to lead from the front, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, the second pillar of India’s ODI batting line-up.