New Zealand 2022 in sight as India, South Africa eves gear up for ODI series

It has been nearly four years since India missed out on being crowned world champions by a whisker. Since then, they have also made it to the T20 World Cup final – in Australia – but fell short once again. With a year to go for the next World Cup, India have enough time on their hands to perhaps turn silver into gold.

They start with a five-match ODI series against South Africa, who have their bases well covered and more importantly, unlike India, have played a few matches in the lead up to the series. India, on the other hand, have not played competitive cricket since March last year and they last played a 50-over contest in November 2019 against West Indies in the Caribbean. 

India have also been bold with their selection for the series, having not picked their senior pacer Shikha Pandey. With 73 wickets in ODIs, she has taken the most wickets for India since her debut. Interestingly, Ekta Bisht, who is second on the list, also misses out. Harmanpreet Kaur insisted that Shikha has not been ‘dropped’ but rested for the series as the team wants to try out some young players. Mithali Raj too backs her deputy's claim. This move will give someone like Mansi Joshi a great chance to support Jhulan Goswami in the bowling attack.

Injuries have played a huge part in Mansi’s absence from the India squad over the years and it is a great chance for her to prove herself against some quality batters like Laura Wolvaardt, Lizelle Lee, Mignon du Preez and others. 

They have also included hard-hitting Yastika Bhatia, wicketkeeper Sweta Verma along with C Prathysha (batter) and Monica Patel, who is a medium-pacer. Based on what Harmanpreet and Mithali said in pre-series press conferences, we could see all these cricketers in the playing eleven at some point in the series.

As far as South Africa are concerned, they have a terrific opportunity to better their record against India, having won just seven out of 22 ODIs. They come into the series on the back of a successful ODI and T20I series against Pakistan at home and before that, they also participated in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). Safe to say that they are match-ready and there is no question of being rusty. They have an excellent balance and if they perform like a well-oiled machine, they can be dangerous to contend with against any team, in any conditions. 

Lee and Wolvaardt, in their last 12 innings together, have put up six 50-plus partnerships since 2019 and their middle-order (3-6) too have not been particularly bad, scoring at an average of 48 in the same time period. On the bowling front, they are a pace-heavy side with Marizanne Kapp, Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka picking up 55 wickets between them since 2019. They will once again be key if the Proteas are to succeed in the series.

The goal for both sides remains the same -- figure out the right combination in time for the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand. The sooner they figure that out, the better they are likely to perform in the mega event.

Squads:

India: Mithali Raj (c), Punam Raut, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Dayalan Hemalatha, Sushma Verma (wk), Jhulan Goswami, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Mansi Joshi, Priya Punia, Radha Yadav, C Prathyusha, Sweta Verma (wk), Yastika Bhatia, Monica Patel

South Africa: Sune Luus(c), Lizelle Lee, Laura Wolvaardt, Lara Goodall, Mignon du Preez, Marizanne Kapp, Trisha Chetty (wk), Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka, Sinalo Jafta, Anne Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Faye Tunnicliffe, Nondumiso Shangase