Ranchi revives ODI cricket – Can Raipur keep the momentum?

For those of us – like myself – who worry about the health of ODI cricket, that first match between India and South Africa was a welcome relief. The bigger question now is: can Raipur match the entertainment?

India took the Ranchi ODI by a narrow margin, just about fending off a massive lower-order charge from South Africa after putting up 349. Virat Kohli struck his 52nd ODI hundred, Rohit Sharma chipped in with another fluent fifty, and stand-in captain KL Rahul made 60. Yet despite that strong platform, South Africa fought back hard – Marco Jansen smashing 70, Corbin Bosch belting 67 – and at one stage the chase looked alarmingly possible.

Now the caravan moves to Raipur. Will India seal the series 2-0? Or will South Africa hit back with a more disciplined bowling performance?

One of the quirks of the Ranchi match was South Africa picking just one frontline spinner. Surely Keshav Maharaj – currently No. 3 in the ODI rankings – returns to the XI. The way Kohli and Rohit dismantled offspinner Prenelan Subrayen made that selection call look even stranger.

South Africa’s big positive was their fight from 11/3 to taking the game deep, almost threatening to chase 350. India, despite the cushion of 349, looked short of ideas at times – which naturally puts KL Rahul’s captaincy under some scrutiny. If not for Kuldeep Yadav’s four wickets, Harshit Rana’s three-wicket spell, and Arshdeep Singh’s accuracy at the death, the result could easily have flipped.

But for all the chaos and close calls, what the Ranchi ODI gave us was something rare today: a genuinely entertaining 50-over match. In an era dominated by T20 tournaments and the grand narrative of Test cricket, the ODI format is stuck in the middle, begging for context. I honestly believe ODIs need structural rethinking — because without stakes or storyline, they’re getting squeezed from both ends.

Which is why Ranchi was refreshing. And why, as ODI loyalists, we can only hope Raipur gives us another tight contest.

Now the questions ahead of the second ODI: Should India reshuffle the batting? Is Washington Sundar really the right fit at No. 5? Should Rahul float up the order?
Does Ruturaj Gaikwad deserve another go at No. 4? Or is it time to bring Rishabh Pant back in?

India likely playing 11: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ruturaj Gaikwad/Rishabh Pant, 5 KL Rahul (capt/wk), 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harshit Rana, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Prasidh Krishna

South Africa likely playing 11: 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Temba Bavuma, 4 Matthew Breetzke, 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Dewald Brevis, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Lungi Ngidi