When India, the World No. 2 in ICC ODI rankings, will face South Africa, the No.1team in the world, in the first ODI of the six-match series, they will surely like to start with a win as the series win later will propel them to the No. 1 spot.

Even though Virat Kohli’s squad lost the recently concluded three-match Test series by 2-1, they are high on confidence with their win at Wanderers.

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On Friday when the visitors will face the hosts for the opening ODI match, they will aim to start the series on winning note.

With the ODI series in the rainbow nation, Virat’s side will also look to kick off their preparations for World Cup next year.

India have a long limited-overs’ schedule until their next big Test assignment this year.

India will play six ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals in South Africa. Thereafter, they have a T20I tri-series in Sri Lanka and then three ODIs and three T20Is in England and Ireland, with the 2018 IPL season in between before the five-Test series in England later in August.

Such a definitive run of limited-overs’ cricket, especially in overseas conditions in South Africa and England, will allow the Indian team management to round up the squad’s core for the big tournament in 2019 and fix up certain spots which still need some work.

At the same time, Virat Kohli’s squad will also be intent on winning their first-ever bilateral ODI series on South African soil.

India have previously lost 5-2 in 1992-93, 4-0 in 2006- 07, 3-2 in 2010-11 and 2-0 in 2013-14. They were also part of two triangular series in 1996-97 and 2001-02, featuring Zimbabwe and Kenya, respectively, but the Proteas emerged victors on both occasions.

So much so, India’s ODI record against South Africa in the Rainbow Nation is heavily skewered.

In 28 meetings since 1992-93, the Proteas have won 21 matches, while India have only won five. Such a poor record will not sit well with the current team management that is intent on improving India’s all-round showing in overseas conditions.

Additionally, India have a very lop-sided ODI record in Durban. In seven ODIs against South Africa at this venue since 1992-93, they have lost six with one yielding no-result. India did beat England and Kenya here though, during the 2003 ODI World Cup, giving them an overall two wins in nine ODIs at Kingsmead.

South Africa won the Test series 2-1, but lost the third Test at Johannesburg by 63 runs on a seam-friendly pitch rated ‘poor’ by ICC match referee Andy Pycroft.

India also have a proud ODI record to protect. Since losing 4-1 in Australia (January 2016), the Men in Blue haven’t lost a single bilateral ODI series, home or away.

In this interim, they have beaten Zimbabwe, New Zealand (twice), England, West Indies, Sri Lanka (twice) and Australia, winning 24 out of 32 bilateral matches.

Their only tournament loss came in the 2017 Champions Trophy (in England), where they lost to Pakistan in the final.

As such, the team management will be relying on optimal selection to get this six-match series off to a good start.

With the return of Kohli after missing the ODIs/T20Is series against Sri Lanka in December, there is only one middle-order spot to be decided.

Shreyas Iyer gave a good account of himself, scoring two half-centuries in three matches against Sri Lanka, and is a front-runner for the job. But experience could be of greater value herein, with Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey also in the running.

On Wednesday, the pitch bore a brownish look ahead of the game, in keeping with the rainfall Durban has received of late.

Showers are forecast for Thursday’s game as well. It might have a bearing on how many spinners India go in with.

If the visitors play only a lone spinner, Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav could get the nod ahead of both Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal to counter the threat of big-hitting left- handers David Miller and JP Duminy in the middle-order.

Only one spinner would also mean that Kedar Jadhav is assured of a starting spot, thanks to his part-time bowling.

South Africa too, meanwhile, have an eye on the upcoming World Cup. AB de Villiers is set to miss out the first three ODIs due to an injured right index finger (sustained during the third Test).

Farhan Behardien is usually their go-to batsman in such situations, but he wasn’t called up on this occasion. This is indicative of the Proteas’ team management eyeing different combinations.

Durban-born batsman Khayelihle Zondo can expect to make his debut instead. The other option is to open with Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, and give Aiden Markram another opportunity in the middle-order, wherein he had scored 66 on ODI debut against Bangladesh at East London (October 2017).

The Proteas are expected to go in with only spinner — Imran Tahir.

Teams:

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Lungisani Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Khayelihle Zondo.

-With PTI inputs