India VS South Africa ODI: Three key lessons from India’s ODI victory

In the end, it was an anti-climatic series in many ways. The series started well, with a closely fought encounter at Trivandrum. However, the subsequent matches at Guwahati and Delhi were decidedly one-sided. 

However, that wouldn't have mattered too much to India, who sealed a series win against a full-strength South Africa team – despite playing with their apparent B-team, with the main squad in Australia preparing for the T20 World Cup 2022. 

With that in mind, here's a look at the three major takeaways from the series. 

India shows great character to win the series – The way the first ODI ended, there was a fear among many people that South Africa might whitewash India at home. This wasn't down to the Indian second-string team lacking quality but their inability to take their chances and perform well when it mattered the most. 

India's fielding was sloppy and, to make things worse, a top-order collapse ensured they lost a close game – despite perfect innings from Sanju Samson. But they showed plenty of resilience to return from there; something even stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan acknowledged. 

"I am proud of the boys, the way they played the series. The way their carried the responsibility and showed maturity was great. We showed a lot of character, we dropped a few catches in the first game but we never really put pressure on ourselves," he said after the match. 

India's embarrassing riches in batting – India's excellent bench strength is not a secret. But the level of means that populate the Indian B-team is superb and shows just how unlucky some players are. 

In most other nations barring a few, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, and Ishan Kishan would be walking into the playing XI. However, in India, the three can't even find a place in the 15-man squad – Iyer is in the reserves, but Samson and Kishan don't find a spot even in the back-ups for the World Cup. 

The good news is that all of these players remain in the scheme of things – and are not harming their chances of featuring in the 2023 ODI World Cup. 

Shikhar Dhawan's form a concern – One man who doesn't seem a nailed-on certainty for the 2023 World Cup is the opener, Shikhar Dhawan. His record in ICC tournaments is excellent, but he's not been in the scheme of things for T20Is and tests and is currently a first-choice only in the ODIs. 

However, his recent form hasn't been encouraging – he struggled through this series even as other batters grabbed their chance with both hands. 

Dhawan was coy about his chances of playing regularly after the third ODI at Delhi. "I am enjoying the journey, I'll try to keep performing well for the team," is all he said when asked about his playing time. But he should be concerned about his form – especially with younger, hungrier players only too keen to displace him.