10 months ago
18
As India took on South Africa in the first ODI of the three-match series, returned the popular Sanju Samson to the fold while Sai Sudharsan made his debut for the Indian, having impressed the selectors with his exploits in List A cricket. As India skipper KL Rahul announced the playing Xi for the series opener, two rookies -- Rajat Patidar and Rinku Singh -- were denied debuts in the 50-over format of the game. In fact, it was Samson who won the battle against Rinku for the finisher's spot in the team.
A lot was talked about the trio of Sudharsan, Rinku and Rajat, considering how well they've done in domestic cricket and the IPL. Rinku, in fact, has already made a reputation of himself as a match-winner in India's T20I team. But, there was no place for him in the 1st ODI team.
It was South Africa skipper Aiden Markram who won the toss and opted to bat first. KL Rahul, India's captain for the series, also said that he would've liked to bat first. Rahul then revealed India's playing XI for the match.
"Special day, watched a lot of cricket on TV - the Pink ODI is a big occasion here in South Africa. Looking forward to a cracker of a game. There was a of spin and it was try, we'll try to put pressure on them. Sai Sudharsan is on debut today. There are a few names that have played a lot of IPL cricket. Ruturaj did well, Tilak seems exciting, Sanju is always exciting. We've got Axar, Kuldeep who'd love to see some spin. They know what pressure is and how to handle it. They all come with IPL experience, hopefully that helps them here and they can perform to the best of their ability," he said.
South Africa Playing XI: Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi
India Playing XI: KL Rahul(w/c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar
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