sports desk13 minutes ago
- copy link
The first match of the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa will be played today at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi. The match will start at 1:30 PM and the toss will take place at 1:00 PM. Earlier, in the Test series between the two teams, South Africa had made a clean sweep of 2-0.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will return in today’s match. The team looks stronger with his arrival. Both the legends will play international matches in India after 9 months. He last appeared in the home ODI series against England in February. Both the players have retired from Test and T-20.
Wicketkeeper KL Rahul will captain the Indian team in this series. Regular captain Shubman Gill is out due to injury.
Rohit can overtake Afridi
- By hitting a six in this match, Rohit will become the second batsman in the world to complete 350 sixes in ODIs. Till now only Shahid Afridi of Pakistan has hit 350 or more sixes in ODIs.
- If Hitman hits 3 sixes in the first match, he will become the player to hit the most sixes in ODI cricket. Currently this record is in the name of Shahid Afridi, who has hit 351 sixes in 369 innings. Rohit has so far hit 349 sixes in 268 innings.
- If Rohit hits 8 sixes in the South Africa series, he will become the first cricketer in the world to complete 650 sixes in international cricket. Currently, he has 642 sixes in his name in 535 innings of 502 matches and he is number-1 in this list.
South Africa prevails over India in ODI 58 matches were played between India and South Africa in ODI cricket. India won in 27 and South Africa won in 30. During this period one match remained inconclusive. India can now end South Africa’s dominance in head to head by winning 3-0. With a clean sweep, the win-loss records of both the teams in ODIs will be equal.
Team India definitely has the upper hand in the series. So far 15 ODI series have been played between the two. South Africa won in 6 and India won in 8. There was also a series draw in 2005. Both of them last played an ODI series in 2023, which was also won by India 2-1.

Both the teams played 24 ODIs in India, India won 14 and South Africa won 10. However, Team India is far ahead in series wins. Both played 7 series in India, India won 5 and South Africa won only 1. One series was drawn. South Africa’s only series win was in 2015, when the team won the 5 ODI series 3-2 under the captaincy of AB de Villiers.

Rohit is India’s top scorer Former Indian captain Rohit Sharma is the team’s top run scorer, he has scored 504 runs in 11 matches this year with 2 centuries. Shreyas Iyer (496) is at second place and Shubman Gill (490) is at third place. Both players are out of the series due to injury. Whereas Harshit Rana is the top bowler of the team with 16 wickets.

Lungi Ngidi Africa’s top wicket taker Matthew Bretzky has scored the most runs for South Africa in 2025. He scored a century (150) against New Zealand. Whereas right arm medium pacer Lungi Ngidi has taken maximum 18 wickets for the team.

India-South Africa will clash for the second time in Ranchi The Indian team played its first ODI in Ranchi in 2013 against England. Team India won it by 7 wickets. India has so far played 6 ODIs in Ranchi, out of which it won 3, lost 2 and 1 match remained without result. So far only one ODI has taken place between India and South Africa in Ranchi. This match was played in 2022, in which India won by 7 wickets.
It is beneficial to chase first in JSCA Stadium Ranchi’s pitch is usually slow, so the batsmen here have to struggle a lot to score runs. Spin bowlers get good help on this ground. So far 6 ODIs have been played here, out of which 3 matches have been won by the chasing team. That means winning the toss and fielding first has proved more beneficial here. The average score while batting first on this ground has been 265 runs.
Possible playing-11 of both the teams India: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad/Tilak Verma, KL Rahul (captain and wicketkeeper), Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.
South Africa: ODI: Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton/Tony DeGeorge, Temba Bavuma (captain), Mathieu Bretzky, Dewald Brewis, Marco Janson, Corbin Bosch, Prenlan Subrayan, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi/Nandre Berger.
Where to watch the match? The first ODI between India and South Africa will be telecast live on Star Sports Network in India. At the same time, live streaming will be available to watch on JioHotstar app and website. Along with this, you can watch LIVE coverage of the match on Bhaskar app.
Source link
[ad_3]