Opinion: Can the return of AB de Villiers turn the tide for South Africa?

The scoreline is rather hard to believe at present. The visiting Indian side leading 3-0 in the six-match ODI series against an arguably dominant South African unit at home.

This was supposed to be the mother of all ODI battles. The clash between the No. 1 and No. 2 ODI sides in the world. The greatest heavyweights of the limited overs format having a go at each other and having an epic contest for the crowds to savour. That wasn’t to be, however.

South Africa looks like a pale shadow of what they used to be once. Their batting has been shambolic and bowling has been wayward. And without the services of star batsmen like AB de Villiers and Faf Du Plessis, South Africa has simply not been able to maintain its standards.

Old issues against wrist spin have resurfaced and there has been a real lack of application from the players in fighting it out. This raises serious questions about the future of this South African ODI outfit and makes one wonder how well they are prepared for their ‘Mission 2019’.

As India take on South Africa in the fourth ODI at the Wanderers, the hosts would be hoping for a turnaround in their fortunes. The return of star batsman AB de Villiers after an injury layoff will certainly bolster their prospects a bit.

After all, he is their greatest match-winner and averages 100.85 from 11 matches at this ground. This is also a Pink ODI and the South Africans would be seen donning the pink jersey in an ODI match again. Ever since this tradition was started five years ago, South Africa has been undefeatable in pink.

They have played five ODIs in pink and have not lost a single game as yet. History, however, would be of little help if the hosts continue to play they have been over the last few days.

For India, despite their winning momentum, there are causes of concern. Rohit Sharma seems to have fallen into his inconsistency pattern again and the lower middle-order looks fragile. Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav have to do more so that the burden on Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan is reduced a bit.

India’s bowlers, though, have been absolutely brilliant and Kohli would need them to continue in the same vein. The seamers have not allowed the batsmen to get away to rollicking starts and then the wrist spinners - Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav – have taken over.

The two have spun such a vicious web over the South African batsmen that they do not how to untangle themselves out of it. Perhaps with De Villiers coming back, they will finally have some relief.

There is no denying, however, that despite the return of AB de Villiers, India start as favourites in the fourth ODI. They have displayed a brand of aggressive and professional cricket and it will not be surprising if they go on to subdue South Africa again and get a series-clinching win here.