Raipur

The chatter around the volatile dressing room environment notwithstanding, India will rely on Virat Kohli’s imperious form and Rohit Sharma’s indomitable presence to seal a series victory over a doughty South Africa in the second ODI, here on Wednesday. A record-extending 52nd ODI century by Kohli and a rapid 57 from Rohit paved the way for India’s 17-run win in the series-opener at Ranchi, where the home bowlers endured a spirited fightback from the Proteas before managing to stop them.

With the 2027 ODI World Cup two years away, Kohli and Rohit are not only auditioning every match to prove their fitness and form but are also reportedly managing growing differences with head coach Gautam Gambhir.

The issue has dominated the off-field talk and is expected to have the BCCI stepping in at some point. Having set up two consecutive victories for India in last as many ODIs -- including a nine-wicket hammering of Australia at Sydney in October -- Kohli and Rohit have shown they will everything possible to be on that flight to the World Cup in South Africa.

Both the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar and Gambhir have remained non-committal about their participation in the World Cup and that has probably been at the centre of the simmering tensions between the two sides. However, India have a lot more to worry about despite the opening win.

For starters, the combination does not seem perfectly aligned.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has built an impressive record in List A cricket, was pushed from opening to No 4.

He did not look completely conditioned for the role, with stand-in captain KL Rahul staunchly defending his position at No 6.

Washington Sundar is not new to such experiments as the Tamil Nadu all-rounder, who batted at No 3 in Kolkata Test against the Proteas, has seen plenty of changes in his batting positions. But in the first ODI at No 5, he too was among the batters dismissed in a phase where India slowed down.

South Africa will indeed take a lot of heart in their inspired comeback after being reduced to 11/3 at one stage. South Africa played in the first ODI without their regular skipper Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj, who both were rested after their historic Test series win. But the Proteas are expected to bolster their squad with their return.

Teams

India: KL Rahul (c&wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock (wk), Tony de Zorzi, Rubin Hermann (wk), Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Corbin Bosch, Marco Jansen, Prenelan Subrayen, Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.