SA v IND 2021-22: Shikhar Dhawan competing with Ruturaj Gaikwad; Venkatesh Iyer set for SA tour- Report

India to play three ODIs in January in South Africa.

Shikhar Dhawan’s ongoing poor form with the bat for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 has given Maharashtra’s Ruturaj Gaikwad an edge in the competition for the opening slot in the Indian team for the upcoming three ODIs in South Africa.

If reports from PTI are to be believed, then Ruturaj Gaikwad, thanks to his hat-trick of centuries in the ongoing domestic 50-over tournament and all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer have booked their tickets for the South Africa tour.

While BCCI has announced Rohit Sharma as the next captain of the ODI side, the squad for the series is yet to be finalized. It remains to be seen how many new faces the selectors send to South Africa keeping in mind the bio-bubble and workload management.

Venkatesh Iyer has also picked wickets to go with his runs and has made it amply clear that he is ready to push back Hardik Pandya for the time being as the team's premier all-rounder.

Iyer has taken the role of finisher like a fish to the water as he batted at number four against Kerala to score 112 off 84 balls and then pushed the envelope further scoring 71 off 49 balls batting at number five. He also recently scored 151 against Chandigarh in Rajkot.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021: WATCH- MP's Venkatesh Iyer celebrates his century in Rajinikanth style

"Venkatesh is surely going to South Africa. He is bowling 9 or 10 overs in every game and with Hardik still recuperating, it is the best time to give him chance and get him battle-ready for the bigger events ahead. The new team management absolutely did the right thing in advising him to bat in the middle order. As of now, if he doesn't get injured, Venkatesh is a certainty for South Africa one-dayers," a BCCI source told PTI.

Now the debate is between Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad as the backup opener for the ODIs. Ruturaj has scored 136 versus MP, 154 not out vs Chhattisgarh, and 124 vs Kerala and will be difficult to ignore. Dhawan, meanwhile, has scores of 0, 12, 14, 18 and hasn’t managed to find his form in the tournament.

Hogg calls it 'blessing in disguise' as BCCI names Rohit new India ODI, T20I captain replacing Kohli

Given that the Rahul Dravid-led team management giving Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, and Cheteshwar Pujara a longer rope; the expectations are that Dhawan might also get another chance to prove himself.

"Technically, last time India played 50-over series, Dhawan was leading India and also had a match-winning knock in Sri Lanka. He has the ability to score runs just when he has back to the wall. So while Gaikwad should be there in the squad, I think selectors might give one last chance to Dhawan, may be take him and give him a game or two," the source said. 

(PTI inputs)