Dhoni doubtful for 4th ODI

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“Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the doubtful starter for the Fourth ODI against South Africa on Friday.”

Dhoni hurt his ankle during practice session on Thursday, however, he is likely to play in the crucial game.

India would be looking to complete a series win when they take on South Africa in the fourth cricket ODI on Friday.

India bounced back after their dismal defeat in the first ODI in Durban with two close wins in Johannesburg and Cape Town, taking a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. South Africa, on the other hand, would be desperate to come back after they faltered at crucial stages of the last two ODIs.

If India win Friday, it will be their first series win in South Africa. In the absence of key batsmen Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the win will be more special and a major morale-booster ahead of the World Cup.

Yusuf Pathan played an impressive innings in the last ODI to pull India out of trouble and the big-hitter would like to continue with his hot form here as well while Virat Kohli will be looking to add on to a streak of good performances in the rainbow nation.

However, India's opening combination is yet to be sorted out. Parthiv Patel, who was flown in as a replacement for injured Sachin Tendulkar, may get a game with Murali Vijay completely out of form. He can partner Rohit Sharma, who opened in the last match.

India can give a chance to their spinners -- Piyush Chawla and Ravichandran Ashwin -- both of whom have been picked in the World Cup squad. While leg-spinner Chawla has not played in an ODI since July 2008, off-spinner Ashwin, who was the highest wicket-taker in the New Zealand series at home last year, also hasn't had a game so far.

The South African batting has not clicked barring the first match and their batsmen have struggled to play the spinners in the middle overs. The hosts, however, can draw hope from captain Graeme Smith and J.P. Duminy's form. All-rounder Faf Du Plessis, who made his debut in Cape Town, has also performed well.

The bowling has been the hosts' strength with pacers Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe in a purple patch and off-spinner Johan Botha complementing the seam attack. Uncapped leg-spinner Imran Tahir may get his first game.

Smith is hopeful that after the announcement of the World Cup squad, the players will play without any pressure.

"Now that the World Cup squad is announced, the tension has kind of lifted on the players and the way they play the game, so hopefully we can play with a bit more freedom."

The teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain, wicketkeeper), Murali Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Shantakumaran Sreesanth.

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers (wicketkeeper), Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Colin Ingram, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Preview: India vs South Africa, 4th ODI

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 India is on the verge of creating history, with a first-ever ODI series triumph on South African soil beckoning ahead of the Fourth ODI.

The Indians have never won limited-overs series in South Africa and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men will leave no stone unturned to achieve the feat at St George's Park.

Even though India are leading the series 2-1, there are several things the visitors will want to improve on, with the main one being batting. The batting was ordinary in the first two matches, while it was just a little bit better in the third match. The bowling and fielding were responsible for both wins.

With seniors like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir missing from the ranks, the youngsters, who have done well in the recent past, have not been able to cope with the conditions.

India's bowling attack, in contrast, has been impressive with the pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel creating problems for the batsmen. Even spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh has come up with consistent performances with the ball, while with the bat, he scored valuable runs in the third ODI.

If India have been bad with the bat though, South Africa have been even worse. The first ODI saw them put up a good total, but since then, the batsmen have let the side down rather badly. In the absence of veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis, South Africa lack the required balance in the side and even as captain Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and new comer Faf du Plessis have all chipped in with runs, they simply have not made up for the loss of Kallis so far in the tournament.

South Africa's chief problem while batting appears to be a rather long tail. Given that, the pressure on the top order to fire is even higher than normal and the lack of all-rounders in the side has upset the balance considerably.

The bowling has been fairly adequate, though the bowlers would do well to have more specific plans for someone like Yusuf Pathan - who can change the game in a matter of minutes.

The home side's fielding was far below its world-class standards in the third ODI, and the fact that the fielding fell apart was perhaps the sign of a side not being all mentally 'there' in the match.

If South Africa want to prevent a series-win for India, they will need to be a lot more switched on for this match. Having won two close matches - in both of which South Africa had their chances to win - the Indians will be feeling much better mentally than the South Africans. South Africa need to overcome that deficit as well as batting woes, while India need to continue to be mentally strong and not take undue pressure from the fact that this could be a first-ever series win in South Africa.