With an aim to keep the series alive, India will square off against South Africa in the 2nd ODI of the series at Boland Park, Paarl. The home team registered a 31-run win in the opening ODI to go 1-0 up in the series. A win in the 2nd ODI will seal the series for the Temba Bavuma-led side while a defeat for them will make the 3rd game a must-watch.
The opening ODI marked R Ashwin’s comeback to the ODI cricket after a long break of 54 months. The off-spinner had been away from the 50-over format since the 2017 West Indies tour.
He made his return to the T20I side for the T20 World Cup 2021 and his impressive run since then earned him a place in the ODI team too. Ashwin spent 53 runs and scalped the important wicket of Quinton de Kock in his 10-over spell.
The scalp saw him dismissing 151st batsman in his ODI career. Going into the 2nd ODI, Ashwin is now eyeing a major milestone and aiming to go past Sachin Tendulkar in an elite list.
Tendulkar, who was also a handy spinner during his long career, dismissed 154 batsmen. Should Ashwin scalp 4 more wickets on the tour, he will leapfrog Tendulkar to move to the 12th spot in the list of India’s highest-wicket takers in ODI cricket. He can also go past Ashish Nehra, who scalped 155 ODI wickets.
The list of Indian bowlers with most wickets in ODIs is topped by Anil Kumble. The former India Test captain dismissed 334 batsmen. He is followed by Javagl Srinath (315), Ajit Agarkar (288), Zaheer Khan (269) and Harbhajan Singh (265).
The 2nd ODI of the series will be played at the same venue on Friday (January 21). Cape Town will host the 3rd and the final ODI of the series on Sunday (January 23).
