India Drop Sundar as Tilak Varma Returns for Final South Africa ODI

India made an important change for the final ODI against South Africa in Visakhapatnam by dropping Washington Sundar and bringing back Tilak Varma. Sundar was tested as a batting all-rounder in the first two matches, where he batted at No. 5 and No. 6, but he could not make an impact. He scored only 13 and 1 in the two innings and bowled a total of seven overs without taking a wicket. Because of his continuing struggles, the team management decided to replace him with Varma, who is returning to ODI cricket after two years. His last ODI was also against South Africa in December 2023, and he has scored 68 runs in four matches, including a top score of 52.

South Africa also made two changes in their playing XI after Nandre Burger and Tony de Zorzi were ruled out due to injuries. They were replaced by Ryan Rickelton and Ottneil Baartman as the visitors aimed to strengthen their squad for the decisive match. Before the toss, India had lost 20 consecutive tosses in ODIs, but this time KL Rahul finally won and chose to bowl first. Rahul said the team had trained under lights and found that dew arrived late, so bowling first would help them test themselves with a different approach. He mentioned the feedback from the coaching staff and explained that dew might not play a big role like it did in Ranchi and Raipur.

India’s playing XI for the match included Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna. South Africa’s XI featured Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, and Ottneil Baartman. The match is expected to be a key battle as both teams aim to finish the series strongly, with India focusing on better balance and stronger bowling and South Africa looking to overcome injuries and maintain their competitive edge.