SA vs IND series not part of CWC ODI Super League, here is why

Few people might have been shocked when commentators on TV said during the first ODI between hosts South Africa and India at Boland Park in Paarl that the series is not part of the Cricket World Cup Super League. The CWC Super League started in 2019 is the qualification system for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 to be hosted in India. 

The reason as to why this three-match series is not part of the Super League is because according to ICC rules, each of the 13 teams part of the league, which includes the Netherlands as the only non-Test-playing member, have to play only eight series of three-match each against eight other teams. 

"In some cases, they may play four or five matches in a series, but only three pre-decided matches will count for the Super League points," says the ICC. And thus, this series between South Africa and India is a pre-decided one. The Super League series between the two teams was supposed to be played in March 2020, however, due to Covid-19, it was postponed. It will now be played in 2022. 

According to the rule of the Super League, "Each team plays three ODIs against eight other teams. Four of these are home series and four are away series. This means each team plays a total of 24 ODIs." Ten points are added for each win and five for a tie/no result/abandoned match.

The Indian team has so far played nine of its mandatory 24 games, three each against Australia (home), England (home) and Sri Lanka (away). It will next play South Africa (home), West Indies (home), Afghanistan (home), Zimbabwe and New Zealand (both away).

South Africa has so far played 10 games, three each against Ireland and Sri Lanka away from home, three against Pakistan (home) and one against the Netherlands which was washed out. The other two matches of its series against the Netherlands and an entire series against England at home has been postponed. Apart from those two series, it is supposed to play against Australia (away), Bangladesh (home) and against India (away). 

At the end, when each team has played 24 games each, "The bottom five teams will play a qualifying tournament, which will also feature the best teams from the lower rungs of competition," says ICC.

As of now, England are at the top of the league having played 15 games and won nine of them, with one match washed out. They have 95 points. At the second spot is Bangladesh with 80 points from 12 games. The Netherlands with 25 points from four games is at the bottom. South Africa are in ninth place with 39 points from 10 games (one point deducted for slow over-rate). 

Though it doesn't matter for India as it is already qualified for the World Cup by the virtue of being hosts, the men in blue sit at the seventh spot with 49 points from nine games (one point deducted for slow over-rate).

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SA vs IND | 1st ODI: Bavuma, van der Dussen shine as Proteas blank India in all departments

The South African team was able to walk out of all troubling situations as it blanked India in the first match of the three-match ODI series that took place at Boland Park in Paarl. Proteas skipper Tamba Bavuma and middle-order batter Rassie van der Dussen were the lead heroes of the script which was then followed brilliantly by the bowlers as they restricted India comfortably to register a 31 run victory. Chasing a target of 297, India started cautiously with the pairing of Shikhar Dhawan, who was making a comeback into the full-fledged squad after quite a long time and stand-in skipper for this series, KL Rahul put on 46 run partnership in 49 balls before the latter departed after being caught by Quinton de Kock off the bowling off part-timer Aiden Markram. Virat Kohli then joined Dhawan and bolstered India’s chances of reaching the target as the duo added 92 for the second wicket before Dhawan was removed by Keshav Maharaj for 79. Kohli started to build a stand with Rishabh Pant but ended up being a victim of yet another soft dismissal, giving a simple catch to Temba Bavuma at silly mid-on just after reaching his fifty. And just after Kohli’s dismissal, the entire middle and lower middle-order of the Indian batting line-up collapsed like a pack of cards, losing five wickets in just 47 runs. Shardul Thakur was a saving grace as he reached his maiden ODI half-century, scoring 50* off just 43 balls to eventually finish the team’s innings at 265-8 in 50 overs. For Proteas, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo and Shasmi picked two wickets each while Maharaj and Markram picked one each. Earlier in the day, after winning the toss and deciding to bat first, the South African side didn’t really have a good start and lost its first three wickets at the score of 68 in the 18th over. However, after that, van der Dussesn joined his skipper Bavuma and the two added 204 runs for the fourth wicket, giving a great chance for the team to fight with the ball. Both the players reached individual milestones of a hundred. While Bavuma got out for 110, Rassie remind unbeaten on 129 off only 96 balls to take the Proteas to 296-4 at the end of their 50th over. Courtesy of this innings of his, the 32-year-old was chosen as the Player of the Match. The two teams will now face each other in the second game at the same venue on Friday, January 21.

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India U19 captain Yash Dhull and Vice-Captain Shaik Rasheed test positive for Covid

In a big blow to the India Under-19 team’s campaign at the ongoing ICC U19 World Cup 2022 in West Indies, the skipper and vice-captain of the team along with four other players have tested positive for Covid-19 in Rapid Antigen Testing. Yash Dhull, the captain of the side along with Shiekh Rasheed, his deputy, Aaradhya Yadav, Vasu Vats, Manav Parakh, and Siddharth Yadav were declared Covid positive just ahead of the team’s Group B clash against Ireland. In such tough circumstances, the team barely managed to field an XI. “Three Indian players had tested positive yesterday and were already isolated. In the morning before the match our captain and vice-captain also tested positive in Rapid Antigen Test which is not (not considered) conclusive," a BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI. “So they, as a precautionary measure, were pulled out. The players included skipper Yash Dhull and his deputy Shaikh Rasheed. We only had 11 available players and six isolated," the official added. According to ICC’s measures, “merely registering a positive PCR test result within a team will not result in the automatic postponement or cancellation of fixtures." Therefore it is most likely that India would play its next group stage game against Uganda scheduled for Saturday, January 22. But the bigger question, is what would happen if even after six days, India is unable to get back its captain and vice-captain in playing condition ahead of the all-important quarterfinal clash? That decision would be taken by the ICC’s Bio-safety Scientific Advisory Group (BSAG). As far as the match against Ireland is concerned, riding on the back of openers Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Harnoor Singh’s fifties and a quickfire 36* from Rajvardhan Hangargekar, the Nishant Sandhu led Indian team reached 307-5 in its 50 overs. In reply, Ireland were 1-0 in the second over at the time of publishing this copy.

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SA vs IND | 1st ODI: India waste a great start, lose flurry of wickets at crucial junctures

The Indian team, which was looking all set to chase down 297 with a great partnership of more than 100 runs between the experienced pairing of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, now suddenly finds itself in all sorts of bother. The team now needs 107 runs from 78 balls with two relatively less experienced batters or bowling all-rounders in Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur at the crease. In total, India lost five wickets in 50 runs. It was going all well with there seeming no interest at all from South Africa to take any wicket as Keshav Maharaj went routinely through his overs from one end. But it was during one such over that an arm bowl from the left-hander castled a settled Dhawan, who was batting at 79 off 0ff 84 balls. Rishabh Pant joined Kohli at the crease and helped the latter get past his 63rd fifty-plus score. But just after his fifty, Kohli was out courtesy of a very soft dismissal as the ball hit the toe end of his bat while he was sweeping chinaman Tabraiz Shamsi and the leading edge was popped up easily by Temba Bavuma at short midwicket. Shreyas Iyer who joined Pant added 29 for the fourth wicket, before being caught by de Kock off Lungi Ngidi for run a ball 17. De Kock was once again in action as he stumped Pant off Andile Phehlukwayo’s medium pace down the leg. Venkatesh Iyer, the debutant too lost his patience and tried to pull a short ball from Ngidi, was caught at square leg by Rassie van der Dussen. At the time of publishing this copy, Ashwin was joined at the crease by Thakur.