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Legendary South African fast bowler Dale Steyn has unveiled his combined India-South Africa ODI playing XI ahead of the three-match series opener on Sunday, November 30, with the controversial exclusions of two major names: Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and South African captain Temba Bavuma.
Dale Steyn’s combined India-South Africa playing XI ahead of 1st ODI in Ranchi
Steyn’s final selection features a dominant Indian presence, with seven players, and only four from the Proteas side. The exclusion of Pant signals a preference for experience and recent form in the white-ball middle order, while overlooking Bavuma raises questions about the value of leadership versus sheer striking power in the format.
South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma’s snub despite Test success
The most astonishing exclusion from the combined XI is South Africa’s Test captain, Bavuma, who recently led his side to a historic 2-0 Test series victory in India, their first in 25 years. Despite this major leadership triumph, Steyn chose not to include Bavuma, emphasizing the difference in expectations between the two formats. Bavuma’s ODI record includes 1941 runs in 51 innings from 53 matches, a solid but perhaps not explosive enough return for a combined XI built on match-winners.
Steyn’s lineup instead features a dominant Indian core, leaving out both Bavuma and his ODI deputy, Aiden Markram. Markram’s omission is also significant, as he has tallied 2590 runs in 83 ODIs and provides a useful off-spin option. Steyn’s selection demonstrates a clear bias toward power-hitting and specialized skill sets suited for white-ball cricket. By dropping Bavuma, Steyn made room for the aggressive talents of Tilak Varma and Dewald Brevis, highlighting a ruthless prioritization of current form and explosive potential over a captain whose strength lies in building innings and strategic leadership.
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Rishabh Pant’s exclusion and Dale Steyn’s middle-order preference
Rishabh Pant’s omission from Dale Steyn’s combined XI highlights the former fast bowler’s decision to sideline the aggressive Indian player due to his recent ODI returns, despite Pant’s prolific Test career. Pant, who has a modest ODI average of 33.50 across his 31 matches since his 2018 debut, lost out to a combination of specialist keeper and a flexible middle-order lineup. Steyn opted for two wicketkeeping options who would play purely as batsmen/all-rounders: Quinton de Kock as the opener and KL Rahul at the crucial number five position.
Rahul is also the stand-in captain for the ODI series. The middle-order slots were filled by veterans Virat Kohli at three and the young, high-impact Tilak Varma at four, followed by the hard-hitting South African Dewald Brevis at six. Steyn’s complete combined XI is: Rohit Sharma (IND), Quinton de Kock (SA), Virat Kohli (IND), Tilak Varma (IND), KL Rahul (IND), Dewald Brevis (SA), Ravindra Jadeja (IND), Marco Jansen (SA), Kuldeep Yadav (IND), Arshdeep Singh (IND), and Lungi Ngidi (SA).
“So my combined 1. If I had to combine the two teams. It’s a tricky one, lots of fantastic players, so someone is going to miss out, but it would be Rohit (Sharma) to open the batting with Quinten de Kock, Virat (Kohli) at 3, Tilak Varma at 4, KL Rahul at 5, (Dewald) Brevis at 6, (Ravindra) Jadeja, (Marco) Jansen, Kuldeep (Yadav), Arshdeep (Singh) and Lungi Ngidi,” Steyn said in a video shared by Star Sports.
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