ODI cricket will return to Ranchi, the home of former Indian captain MS Dhoni, after more than three years, with India set to take on South Africa in the series opener on Sunday. South Africa have the momentum, following the historic 2-0 win, but India will hope that the change of format helps them.
India will take on South Africa in the first ODI of the three-match series in Ranchi on Sunday, November 30. The hangover of the Test series is likely to be a strong one, given that the second and final game lasted five days. Since the Proteas won it 2-0, the momentum will be with the visitors, and India, on the other hand, would hope to forget it and start afresh, with a new captain in KL Rahul in charge for the three matches and the hosts will also have Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returning to the fold.
JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi pitch report
Indian captain KL Rahul conceded that the team was yet to take a call on the playing XI and that he had yet to look at the pitch, but did mention that the JSCA International Stadium is usually a high-scoring venue and the wicketkeeper-batter wasn’t wrong. In the last two ODIs in Ranchi, dating back to 2019, 313 played 281 once, and 279 was chased down quite comfortably in the most recent one, which coincidentally was between the same two teams in October 2022.
Ranchi is usually a bit dry and hence, spinners come into play a bit more and hence, playing out Keshav Maharaj will be key for the Indian right-handers, given how impressive the left-arm spinner has been in the previous two ODI assignments for South Africa. However, with temperatures lowering, the dew factor will highly likely play a part and the captain winning the toss is most likely to opt to field.
The history also favours the team bowling first, with three wins in six ODIs, while the team batting first has won a couple of times, with one being washed out in 2013 and in that game too, Australia had piled on 295 runs on the board. So, a high-scoring game is on the cards, with dew set to play a huge part, especially in the second innings.