ICC Champions Trophy 2017, India vs South Africa: 5 players to watch out for

India and South Africa have played against each other in the Champions Trophy thrice. Interestingly, on all three occasions, it was a virtual knockout game and rather unsurprisingly, South Africa lost all three of these encounters.

A fourth one is set to take place at The Oval on Sunday and the stakes are again huge. Both teams have suffered unexpected to losses to opponents that looked weaker on paper in the past week and are now looking to climb out of a self-induced rut.

India have some bowling concerns to sort out after the hammering they received against a young Sri Lankan side while South Africa's batting as well as bowling look haphazard at the moment. While India are known to bring their best game to big games, the Proteas have had trouble catching a ball in knockout games. Times have changed and personnel has changed as well and as Bangladesh proved against the Kiwis, anything can happen on the cricket field.

Here is our take on five players to watch out for in the India-South Africa clash.

#5 David Miller

David Miller has been a shining knight in armour for the Proteas since setting foot in England. He made a brilliant half-century in the second ODI against England but saw his knock go in vain courtesy a miraculous final over from Mark Wood. He rose to the occasion yet again in the Pakistan game but once again ended up on the losing side.

Miller is a fighter and in the last game he showed how important he is to this South African team. Besides being a fearless finisher, Miller has the patience and is more than capable of holding together an innings, something he did with aplomb against Pakistan. Against India, Miller and his team will hope that he wouldn't have to rebuild a fallen innings, instead can do the finishing job.

Record against India

Matches - 12, Runs - 193, HS - 56*, Avg - 21.44

#4 Shikhar Dhawan

Dhawan is in fine nick and will be a prizes wicket for the Proteas

The last time these two teams competed in an ICC tournament, Shikhar Dhawan was peppered with short balls without any success. The opening batsman raced to a dominating hundred at Adelaide, laying a fine platform for the Indian bowlers to choke the South African batsmen, which they did.

Dhawan is a beast in ICC tournaments and his record speaks for itself. He is coming off the back of another hundred, against Sri Lanka, albeit in a losing cause. If South Africa do not have better plans in place than they did in 2015, Dhawan can rip and send them back to Africa pretty quickly.

Record against South Africa

Matches - 10, Runs - 389, HS - 137, Avg - 43.22

#3 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma will be up against a team he hasn't really excelled against

While Dhawan is once again in the limelight, Rohit Sharma has not been in poor touch and has been making vital contributions at the top. The Mumbaikar is still finding his feet after returning from an injury that he suffered before the IPL, but once set is a ferocious hitter.

South Africa may have plans to get rid of Rohit pretty early but if it does not work out, the Indian opener can hurt them real bad. Imran Tahir bamboozled him with googlies in the IPL, and he is the biggest threat to Rohit in the clash at The Oval. That said, the pitch is a belter and Rohit is a really difficult batsman to dismiss on such tracks.

Record against South Africa

Matches - 17, Runs - 462, HS - 150, Avg - 28.87

#2 AB de Villiers

De Villiers will not want another premature exit from an ICC tournament

All the pressure in the world rests on these shoulders when South Africa take on their knockout blues on Sunday. The game already seemed to be on his mind when he came in to bat against Pakistan and slashed at a wide Imad Wasim delivery to be dismissed for his first golden duck in ODIs.

De Villiers is out there to prove a point as he has emphasized umpteen times in pre-match and post-match talks with the media. However, he needs his bat to do the talking in the big game. He loves playing against India and has scored a hundred in the last two ODI encounters between these two teams. If he gets going, South Africa will more than likely cruise to the semis.

Record against India

Matches - 28, Runs - 1279, HS - 119, Avg - 53.29

#1 Ravindra Jadeja

Jadeja's tidy lines will be a thorn in South Africa's flesh

There is no belittling the importance of a spinner in a knockout game against South Africa. The tidy Indian left-arm spinner would have watched how Imad Wasim messed with the Proteas' batsmen few days back and will be itching to do the same.

Expect Kohli to give the ball to Jadeja as soon as De Villiers walks in, given his weakness against left-arm spinners of late. Jadeja can be as tidy as Wasim if not better and South Africa will need to avoid mistakes against him. The Indian fielding is also tighter than Pakistan's by a fair margin so strike rotation may not get easier. Getting bogged down against Jadeja will be playing into India's hands and that is exactly what they will try to avoid.

Record against South Africa

Matches - 8, Wickets - 9, BBI - 2/39, Avg - 36.66