3rd ODI: Recharged India look for further gains against South Africa

After three defeats against South Africa, MS Dhoni's India found a spark to even the ODI leg of the series scoreline at Indore, and victory in Sunday's third match at Rajkot will give the winner the advantage. A reshuffled Indian bowling attack had a big role in a 22-run win on Wednesday, which should give the hosts some confidence at a venue where spin is expected to have a say.

Not all members of this Indian team have pulled their weight, in particular Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. None of them are in danger of losing their place, but runs from Kohli - who last crossed 50 on February 15 during India's World Cup opener - would be particularly helpful considering he has been pushed down a spot to No 4 with Dhoni preferring Ajinkya Rahane at one-down. Rahane has two fifties in a row now, and would want to kick on to a bigger innings.

With R Ashwin expected to be sidelined again, Harbhajan Singh can expect to play alongside left-arm spinner Axar Patel. Patel achieved career-best figures of 3/39 in the previous match and his presence in the XI assumes significance in his home state of Gujarat because of the conditions.

South Africa's inability to chase 248 will have stung, and some of the dismissals to spin were especially haphazard. South Africa's main concerns surround the struggling David Miller, whose poor form continued with a first-ball duck in the last ODI. One possibility would be to hand a debut to batsman Khaya Zondo, who also offers a part-time offspin option.

The refurbished, swanky Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium has hosted a solitary ODI in 2013, which India lost to England by nine runs. Off the field, security at the stadium has been beefed up owing to calls from social activist Hardik Patel that his community will raise slogans against the BJP government during the match.

Probable XIs

India: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav

South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller/Khaya Zondo, 7 Farhaan Behardien, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir