3 South African players who could trouble India in upcoming ODI series
India will play a three-match ODI series against South Africa from January 19-23 in Paarl and Cape Town. All three fixtures are part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, with the winner of each match earning 10 points.
The visitors do not have a full-strength squad for the upcoming ODI series. Captain Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the tour because of a hamstring injury, while star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will also miss the series due to an injury. Hardik Pandya has opted out of the tour to work on his fitness.
KL Rahul will captain India in ODIs for the first time in the upcoming series.
Although the visiting side do not have some of their main players, they will still start as the favorites to win the series. However, the following three South African stars could hurt India's chances of winning.
#1 Marco Jansen - 16 wickets in 13 List-A matches
Left-arm fast bowler Marco Jansen has received his maiden ODI call-up to the South African squad ahead of the series against India. Jansen is a tall pacer who knows how to perform well in South African conditions.
Even though he does not have much experience of playing 50-over cricket, Jansen has an idea of the Indian batters' techniques, having played against them in the IPL and the ongoing World Test Championship series.
Since the Indian batters have struggled against left-arm pace bowlers in white-ball cricket, Jansen could trouble the visitors in the upcoming three games.
#2 Lungi Ngidi - Highest wicket-taker for South Africa in 2018 ODI series against India
Lungi Ngidi made his ODI debut against India four years ago and ended the series as the leading wicket-taker for the Proteas with eight wickets in four matches, including one four-wicket haul.
Ngidi has improved a lot since then. He won IPL 2021 with the Chennai Super Kings last year and has taken 11 wickets in the two Test matches played against India so far.
With the conditions expected to favor fast bowlers, Ngidi could be a threat to India's chances of winning.
#3 Janneman Malan
Janneman Malan had a dream year in ODI cricket in 2021. The right-handed batter scored 509 runs in just seven ODI innings to end the year as the second-highest run-scorer among all batters.
Malan will be keen to continue in the same vein against India in the upcoming series. The rising star of South African cricket recorded two centuries and two half-centuries in the 50-over format last year.
If Malan's dream form continues, India could be in trouble during the three-match ODI series against South Africa. Fans should note that the Indian players have never played against Janneman at the senior level so far.