They can field 4-5 international teams: South Africa's Keshav Maharaj hails India's extraordinary talent pool

South Africa all-rounder Keshav Maharaj has hailed Team India's incredible talent pool and refuted the claims that the Proteas are currently playing against a second-string Indian in the ongoing ODI series. India are currently locking horns with South Africa in a three-match ODI series at home with the team being led by Shikhar Dhawan in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma.

South Africa made a winning start to the series after clinching the first game by 9 runs to go 1-0 up. The Indian team is without all of their T20 World Cup-bound players, including the likes of Rohit, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul among others. Meanwhile, India are also missing the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah who are out with injuries.

However, the Indian team is still full of quality showcasing the incredible depth of India's talent pool. There are likes of Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj among others who are part of India's ODI squad against South Africa making them a formidable unit despite missing a host of first-choice players.

Proteas star Maharaj hailed India's incredible talent pool and refused to label Dhawan & Co. as a 'second-string' team. He said India can field 4-5 international teams in one go with the kind of talent they have in their pool.

"I would not call it a second-string Indian side. India have so much talent that they can field four-five proper international sides. Having said that, a lot of the guys have IPL and have international experience. There are world-class performers out there,"said Maharaj in the press conference ahead of the second ODI between the two teams in Ranchi on Sunday.

"It's always nice to play well against India. Obviously, you want to prepare yourself. They have a world-class batting lineup," he added.

While India are without many first-choice stars, South Africa have a full-strength squad at their disposal and will be backing themselves to continue their winning run in the second ODI on Sunday. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma-led India's 15-man squad is currently in Australia to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022.