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Indian batting legend Virat Kohli will be back in action during the first ODI against South Africa at JSCA International Cricket Stadium, Ranchi, on Sunday.
The three-match ODI series against South Africa will start from Sunday and will go on till December 6. The 36-year-old icon would be aiming to continue getting his rhythm right after a mixed outing during the ODI tour to Australia, which started with two successive ducks and concluded with an unbeaten 74* in match-sealing partnership with Rohit Sharma. Virat has a strong record against South Africa, scoring 1,504 runs in 31 ODIs in 29 innings at an average of 65.39, with five centuries and eight fifties and a best score of 160*. He is the third-highest run-getter in ODIs between these two big cricketing nations, with South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis (1,535 runs in 37 ODIs with two centuries and 11 fifties) and Sachin Tendulkar (2,001 runs in 57 ODIs with five centuries and eight fifties). The star batter will have fond memories of playing at the JSCA Stadium, having made 384 runs in five matches and four innings at an average of 192.00, with a best score of 139*. He has two centuries and a fifty at this venue. In his last appearance at Ranchi in ODIs, he played one of his finest ODI knocks while chasing 314 against Australia, scoring a 95-ball 123 while the rest of his teammates failed to touch the 40-run mark. Also, he is 337 runs away from completing 28,000 runs in international cricket. If Virat has a bumper series and manages to achieve this milestone, he will become the third player after Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (28,016 runs in 594 matches with 63 tons) and Sachin (34,357 runs in 664 matches with 100 centuries) to do so. Currently, he is at 27,673 runs in 553 matches and 620 innings at an average of 52.21, with 82 centuries and 144 fifties and a best score of 254*. In 10 ODIs this year, Virat has scored 349 runs in 10 innings at an average of 43.62, with a century and three fifties to his name and best score of 100*. India's ODI squad for SA ODIs: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (C) (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel. (ANI)
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