India vs South Africa, 1st ODI: Preview, team news, pitch report, weather forecast, probable XIs and where to watch

India endured their second Test series defeat at home inside 12 months, both of them being whitewashes, against New Zealand and South Africa respectively. Even as the side's fortunes in the longest format look murky at the moment, it is time to shift to limited-overs cricket. The white-ball leg starts with a three-match ODI series that begins on Sunday (November 30) in Ranchi.

Team news

India

With regular captain Shubman Gill and his deputy Shreyas Iyer both injured, it's KL Rahul who is leading India for this series. India's previous ODI series assignment in Australia ended in a 1-2 defeat with the batters looking rusty for most parts. It was their first ODI series in nine months, so the patchy performance wasn't entirely a surprise but they'll hope to put in a smoother show this series.

As was the case in Australia, the focus will continue to remain largely on the veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The duo signed off the Australian tour with a fab partnership but Kohli didn't look at his fluent best even in the final game. Rohit, meanwhile, looked in good touch and while they aren't under scrutiny according to Ajit Agarkar, both will want runs in this series.

In Gill's absence, Yashasvi Jaiswal is likely to open the batting while Rahul could take the no.4 spot that Iyer generally slots in at. This will mean a spot in the XI for Rishabh Pant who hasn't played an ODI since August 2024. Ravindra Jadeja will be the other batter with Nitish Reddy or Washington Sundar to be in as well.

South Africa

South Africa also lost their last ODI series by an identical 1-2 margin, against Pakistan in Pakistan. However, the Proteas won ODI series in Australia and England prior to that, showing that they have been in good form generally. The slow and spinning conditions in Pakistan proved difficult for South Africa but they are unlikely to get such decks in India.

Quinton de Kock showed good form since his comeback and is set to open the batting with Aiden Markram while skipper Temba Bavuma takes his trademark no.3 spot. Matthew Breetzke has cemented his spot at 4, while Dewald Brevis is also certain to start for the tourists. Rubin Hermann and Marco Jansen should complete the top seven but there is a selection dilemma over Ryan Rickelton with de Kock in the side.

Probable XI

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul(c), Rishabh Pant(wk), Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna

South Africa: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock(wk), Temba Bavuma(c), Matthew Breetzke, Rubin Hermann, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Nandre Burger

Pitch report

Surfaces in Ranchi have generally been on the slower side, which means that a high-scoring game is unlikely. Chasing teams have won five of the nine games at this venue and lost three. Average score batting first is only 235 and while we could see a bigger total than this, tall totals seem improbable.

Weather forecast

Winter has started to kick-in across the northern parts of India and Ranchi is no exception. Afternoons are lukewarm with moderate humidity levels and it gets cooler and cooler as the evening progresses. No rain is forecast for this game.

Where to watch?

The India-South Africa ODIs are being telecast on the Star Sports Network in India while JioHotstar have the streaming rights.