South Africa vs India Update: First ODI from Wanderers, Johannesburg

Information/reports supplied by http://m4.cricbuzz.com

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers(c), Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Dhoni: 'We are looking to bowl first, we have still not figured out how to bowl with a wet ball. We have made the most of whatever practise we could manage. Most of the players have played in such conditions before, this will give a lot of exposure for our youngsters. We are looking forward to a nice contest. Same team that we played in the last match against West Indies.'

India have won the toss and have opted to field

Pitch report:

'There is a good grass covering on the pitch. It is a kind of wicket that one might expect in a Test match. There will be a bit of movement for the fast bowlers. The captain winning the toss will definitely like to bowl first and restrict the opposition to a low total', reckons Shaun Pollock.

Team News: 

The South African team has received a big boost with news emerging that Steyn and Kallis have been declared fit for the opening ODI after recovering from minor injuries. With both these seniors returning, all-rounder Ryan McLaren, despite being South Africa's highest wicket-taker this year, may find himself out of the eleven. Meanwhile, India are unlikely to make too many changes to the team that played against West Indies. However, Umesh Yadav, considering his pace and the South African conditions, might get to play ahead of Mohit Sharma.

Preview by Gokul Gopal

MS Dhoni reckoned that board politics and the shortened South Africa tour will not lead to any tension on the field but India will face some heat and are likely to be welcomed by a hostile crowd at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg when they take on the hosts in the first of the three One-Dayers. The top-ranked ODI side will be looking to further strengthen their position at the top of the table and register their first series win in South Africa. Meanwhile, the Proteas, who are currently ranked fifth, will be aiming for a clean-sweep that will help them move up to the third spot along with England.

Head to head:

South Africa, who have played 67 ODIs against India so far, have won 40 times and lost 25 games while two matches yielded no results. This puts the Proteas' win percentage against India at 59.70 while it gets even better for South Africa at home. With 19 wins and 5 losses out of the 25 games at home against India, South Africa's win percentage is an impressive 76.

Numbers of Note:

11: The number of runs Graeme Smith requires to reach the mark of 7000 in ODI cricket. He will become the third South African with 7000 or more in case he gets the required number of runs.

5: The number of wickets R Ashwin needs to reach the mark of 100 ODI wickets. In case he gets five or more in this game, he will become the joint fourth fastest Indian along with Javagal Srinath to the 100-wicket mark.

3: The number of dismissals MS Dhoni needs to get to the 300-dismissals mark. He will become the first Indian and the fourth player to do so in case he gets the required number of dismissals.

Quotes:

I have had a look at the wicket and there's a lot of grass on it. It hasn't seen a lot of sun yet. But it should play the same over the course of 100 overs. Whether we bat first or second, or bowl first or second, I am not too fussed about that: AB de Villiers.

What we have seen in ODIs here is that the pitches provide something for the fast bowlers but at the same time, if you are a batsman who likes the ball coming on to the bat, this is the place to play. Johannesburg can be a high-scoring venue: MS Dhoni.