NEW DELHI: The Indian cricket team, set to embark on a challenging One Day International (ODI) series against South Africa, arrived in Johannesburg on Friday, gearing up for the upcoming matches with an intense net practice session.
In a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), players were seen honing their skills ahead of the first ODI scheduled for Sunday.

Players sweats it out in the nets

Spinners Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal, pacer Arshdeep Singh, and captain KL Rahul were among the players seen sweating it out in the nets, fine-tuning their game for the series against South Africa.
“Our ODI group has arrived in Johannesburg! Preparations have begun. 1st one-day on Sunday. #TeamIndia #SAvIND,” BCCI wrote along with the video on its official X handle.

After a closely contested T20I series under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav, which ended in a 1-1 draw, the focus now shifts to the ODIs.
KL Rahul to lead Indian ODI side
The Indian squad for the ODI series sees the return of experienced players like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. However, notable names like regular captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah are absent from the ODI lineup.
The squad also includes promising youngsters such as Rinku Singh, Sai Sudarshan, Sanju Samson, and Rajat Patidar. Shubman Gill has been rested for the ODIs.
The itinerary
The ODI series is scheduled to take place from December 17 to 21, followed by a two-match Test series starting from December 26 and concluding on January 7. As the Indian team gets into the groove for the ODI series, fans are eagerly anticipating a competitive and exciting contest against South Africa.

India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C) (Wk), Sanju Samson (Wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar.
India’s squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (Wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.

(With inputs from ANI)