Ranchi, 28 Nov

Indian batting legend Virat Kohli will be back in action during the first ODI against South Africa at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium in Ranchi on Sunday.

The three-match ODI series will begin on Sunday and continue till December 6. The 36-year-old icon will aim to regain rhythm after a mixed ODI tour of Australia, which started with two successive ducks and ended with an unbeaten 74 in a match-winning stand with Rohit Sharma.

Virat has an imposing record against South Africa, scoring 1,504 runs in 31 ODIs in 29 innings at an average of 65.39, with five centuries, eight fifties, and a best of 160. He is the third-highest run-getter in ODIs between the two nations, behind Jacques Kallis (1,535 runs in 37 ODIs) and Sachin Tendulkar (2,001 runs in 57 ODIs).

He also has strong numbers at the JSCA Stadium, scoring 384 runs in five matches and four innings at an average of 192.00, with a best of 139. He has two centuries and a fifty at the venue. In his last ODI in Ranchi, he struck a 95-ball 123 while chasing 314 against Australia, even as no other teammate crossed 40.

Virat is 337 runs short of completing 28,000 international runs. If he reaches the mark this series, he will become the third player after Kumar Sangakkara (28,016 runs) and Tendulkar (34,357 runs) to achieve the milestone.

He currently has 27,673 runs in 553 matches and 620 innings at an average of 52.21, with 82 centuries, 144 fifties, and a best of 254.

This year, he has scored 349 runs in 10 ODIs at an average of 43.62, including a century and three fifties, with a best of 100.

India’s ODI squad: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (C) (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel.