Dhoni has won it all since then, but from the beautiful Wanderers on Thursday, the Indian captain probably starts a final leg of the roller-coaster ride. The 2015 ODI World Cup is more than a year away, but India hardly play anything at home in 2014. And this short, yet crucial series in South Africa on the hard and bouncy tracks will be the first test for this team which is in transition.
This team has been quite an unstoppable force in the subcontinent, beating Australia and West Indies in the recent past. But South Africa is a different ball game. The Indian batting line-up might be brilliant at home, but the pace, bounce and swing that Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander will generate will not be easy for the Indian batsmen, especially openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, two key players in India's recent surge.
However, South Africa themselves are under a bit of pressure. They have lost their last home ODI series against Pakistan and the South African skipper AB de Villiers said that they have to turn things around as soon as possible.
"It's doesn't always happen that we are facing the heat at home, but that seems to be the case here... The confidence level in the team is not very high after the loss against Pakistan," De Villiers said.
That's probably the reason why the hosts are not too keen to take chances and have left a fair coating of grass on the track. "I had a look at the pitch and there's some grass on it...It's been raining and the track hasn't seen much of the sun either. We might make a change or two in the team that played against Pakistan," De Villiers said, hinting at a pace-heavy attack.
The South African captain was pretty categorical in terming the Indian bowling attack as "not the best" and it's to be seen what are the options Dhoni is looking at. Given the greenish tinge, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed are certainties. The third pacer's slot will be a toss-up between Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, even though both are not in top form.
Given South Africa's weakness against spin, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are likely to play. They did well in England during the Champions Trophy and the skipper will hope they keep the good work going.
But this Indian team is going into the series with hardly any practice and that might not be good news for the Indian batting line-up, which is full of front-foot players. "Are you worried about the fact that India haven't won an ODI series in South Africa?" Dhoni smiled when reminded of it. "Now that you have told me I will keep it in mind," the skipper said before going for a practice session.
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