After whitewashing Australia at home, South Africa travel to India for a three-match ODI series, starting from March 12. Meanwhile, a day later, Australia host New Zealand for another ODI series. Moneyball fantasy managers will have to be on the top of their game this week. Here we have identified a few player choices to help their team selection.
Heinrich Klaasen
Country: South Africa
Match/Series: India vs South Africa
Returning to the Proteas setup, Heinrich Klaasen made scores of 123, 51 and 68 in the Australian series to finish with the Man of the Series award. The South African wicket-keeper batsman had handled India's limited-overs spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav well in South Africa and will be expected to do so again in India to continue his purple patch of form.
Hardik Pandya
Country: India
Match/Series: India vs South Africa
Hardik Pandya returns to India's limited-overs setup after a hiatus due to injury. The all-rounder is a vital cog in the ODI side when he is available and could be tasked with a bigger role in this series. He was in prime form in the DY Patil T20 Cup, slamming 105 off just 39 balls followed by an innings of 158 in 55 balls. He will be used with the ball too this series given that he is a natural wicket-taker.
Liton Das
Country: Bangladesh
Match/Series: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe
Liton Das slammed the highest score by a Bangladesh batsman in ODIs last week where he made two hundreds in the three-match series. The wicket-keeper and opening batsman is a fluent batsman and a terrific striker of the ball. He is in form and will want to seal his T20 berth in the side with another good round of performances. He is likely to open the innings and will be key to Bangladesh's totals this upcoming series.
Marnus Labuschagne
Country: Australia
Match/Series: Australia vs New Zealand
Having got out for a duck in South Africa first up, Marnus Labuschagne made up with a solid hundred in the final game of the series. The middle-order batter is a good strike rotator and loves batting on Australian wickets with true bounce. He has started finding his mojo in ODIs too. An X-factor pick considering Australia also have Finch, Warner, and Smith, Labuschagne could be a good differential in your fantasy side.
Ross Taylor
Country: New Zealand
Match/Series: Australia vs New Zealand
In fine form for a while, Ross Taylor was pivotal in New Zealand's ODI series whitewash of India last month. The middle-order batsman has struck a good run of form hitting 109* and 73* in two of the three games in the series against India. He had also ended the T20I series with a half-century and is a key player for New Zealand against Australia considering that he has two centuries and six fifties in the format against the Aussies.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Sajjad Hussain
