India Vs South Africa: Here's the Probable India XI for 4th ODI in Johannesburg

Johannesburg, Feb 9: With three successive wins against South Africa, Team India have taken an unprecedented 3-0 lead in the six-match ODI series and Virat Kohli and his boys must be hoping to make it to 4-0 when they come out to play the fourth here on Saturday (February 10).

India's charismatic skipper Kohli once again showed his class and talent as he notched up an unbeaten 160 against the Proteas in the third ODI. After Kohli's brilliance with the bat, it was the turn of the bowlers, or we should say wrist-spinners, who once again accounted for all ten wickets to hand India another fine win.

The return of seasoned campaigner AB de Villiers might bolster the host's chances of doing relatively better against a dominant Indian side, but the visitors have been clinical in every department of the game.

The spin pair of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav has emerged as a tough nut to crack for the South African batsmen as wickets started tumbling the moment these two are brought into the attack.

Together, these two have accounted for 21 off 28 wickets from three ODIs so far to prove how lethal they have been.

If the spinners weren't enough, even the pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been very effective with the new ball and kept things tight for the opposition. The pace duo has ensured the Indians get the wicket of Hashim Amla in the first powerplay which has been quite useful in unsettling their inexperienced middle-order.

Team India would be eyeing to win the fourth ODI and create history for that will be the first occasion when Men In Blue would clinch a bilateral series on the South African soil. The closest India came was in 2010-11, when under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, they shot into a 2-1 lead only to lose the five-match series 3-2.

This match is going to be the 'Pink ODI', played for the awareness of breast cancer and for the benefit of those suffering from the disease. For this cause, the hosts are going to come out in Pink jerseys.

Going with the team's form one expects the fourth ODI isn't going to be any different and Kohli would come out with the same side that featured in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Here's the Probable India XI for the fourth ODI:

1. Rohit Sharma

The right-handed batsman and team's vice-captain has had a pretty ordinary performance in the series so far. If he got off to a decent start in the first two ODIs before floundering, the right-handed batsman was dismissed for the duck in the third.

With scores of 20, 15 and 0 from the first three ODIs, Rohit must be hoping to turn things around in Johannesburg and put some runs in front of his name in the fourth ODI.

The Mumbaikar has been out-of-form throughout the series for he has failed to score on good batting surfaces. The team would be hoping Rohit makes it count in the fourth ODI.

2. Shikhar Dhawan

If Rohit has floundered all through the series, his opening partner has performed exceptionally well in the series so far.

Dhawan has smashed two consecutive fifties in the series and was dismissed in an unlucky fashion in the first ODI.

In the third ODI, Dhawan played an innings of 76 runs before he was dismissed by JP Duminy and missed out on a well deserved century. But the skipper was pretty satisfied with the kind of knock the southpaw played earlier in the innings.

The left-handed opener would once again be opening the innings for India and the skipper must be hoping for another good start from him.

3. Virat Kohli

If he was dismissed for 112 in the opening ODI, the captain charismatic remained unbeaten on 46 in the second match and slammed another fine ton (160*) in the third ODI.

It was Kohli's brilliance with the bat ensured India post a daunting 304 run target for the hosts to chase.

Leading from the front, the Indian skipper scored at a strike rate of 100.63 as he constructed his innings brilliantly and scored more than half of the team's runs alone.

What was special about this knock was the fact that despite the conditions being tough, Kohli slammed his career's 34th ODI century to prove why he's one of the finest limited-overs batsmen.

The team would, therefore, be hoping for another captain's knock from him in order to create history on the South African soil.

4. Ajinkya Rahane

The Mumbaikar, who was the biggest positives for the visitors in the first ODI, didn't come out to bat in the second ODI but he was dismissed cheaply in the third ODI. Rahane could only score 11 runs in the third ODI before he was dismissed for trying to score quickly.

Before the start of the first ODI, there were questions whether Rahane would get a spot in the Playing XI. To everyone's delight, Rahane featured in the first ODI and emerged as an answer to team's permanent batsman at No. 4.

The team would be hoping that Rahane makes most of the opportunity when he comes out to bat in the fourth ODI and cements his spot.

5. Kedar Jadhav

The diminutive middle-order batsman got an opportunity to bat for the first time on this tour during the third ODI but the Pune-batsman failed to capitalise upon it as he was dismissed for just 1.

The right-handed batsman will be back into the side in the fourth ODI as well.

Jadhav is a capable batsman and also a part-time bowler who can bowl a few overs in the middle. The skipper will once again take his services just like in the first three ODIs. Jadhav, this time, would be hoping to get going in the fourth ODI.

6. MS Dhoni

The veteran wicket-keeper batsman would once again be donning the gloves in the fourth ODI. MS Dhoni became first Indian stumper to effect 400+ dismissals from behind the wickets to claim another record to his name.

However, Dhoni couldn't do much with the bat in the last game as he was dismissed for 10 in the previous game. The veteran cricketer would be hoping to improve his batting figures in South Africa where he averages less than 25.

Dhoni's conversations with the spinners were caught by stump mics once again as he gave a vital piece of advice to the bowlers particularly the spinners, who have been the wreckers in chief for the visitors.

Dhoni's presence and experience bring in the much-needed stability in the side and that has been a key reason for the team's good show.

7. Hardik Pandya

The all-rounder will once again be present in the middle-order in the third game as well and will be utilised as a floating batsman.

In the previous games, Pandya was promoted ahead of Dhoni and Jadhav but he could hardly make any difference.

Thus, it will be interesting to see if the all-rounder gets to bat ahead of Dhoni and Jadhav at Johannesburg or pays the price of throwing his wickets away.

However, the Baroda all-rounder will certainly feature in the playing XI on Saturday for he's also the third pacer in the side.

8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The speedster may not have been at his economical best in the first three ODIs but Bhuvneshwar has been the leader of team's pace battery.

However, he was very effective with the bat in the previous game as he put up a solid 67-run stand with skipper Kohli in the 3rd ODI.

He will definitely feature in India's squad in the fourth ODI. Bhuvneshwar has been team's best new ball bowler and a brilliant death-overs' specialist and if one keeps the past performance of Johannesburg pitch into mind, then he will be pretty lethal there.

9. Yuzvendra Chahal

The wrist spinner was at his lethal best in the second ODI as he produced his best figures in the ODIs with 5/22 and in the third ODI, he returned with 4/46.

Chahal immediately puts the hosts in trouble after being introduced in the 11th over. Once he started picking up wickets, Chahal opened the floodgates for the hosts.

He has so far picked up 11 wickets in the series and remains the leading wicket-taker so far.

10. Kuldeep Yadav

The young Chinaman is the second best bowler for India in the series with 10 wickets to his name from 3 games. Kuldeep has been very lethal and economical at the same time all through the three games and it is his wrist spin that has kept Protea batsmen in trouble.

He has picked up 3/34 in the first ODI, 3/20 in the second and 4/23 in the third game to prove how effective he has been in the series.

He along with his spin-twin Chahal have emerged as a very tough spin attack which is proving out to be too hot for the hosts to handle. The captain would be hoping him to repeat a similar performance.

11. Jasprit Bumrah

The young speedster was one of the positives for India in the Test series as he constantly improved with every game. The 24-year-old Gujarat pacer bagged his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests in only his third Test match.

Bumrah, who is Team India's biggest weapon in the limited overs, didn't disappoint his skipper in the third ODI.

He has been very effective in getting those early breakthroughs and the skipper would once again depend on his exploits in the fourth ODI as well.