India came into the series with several key senior players rested. Most of the youngsters and fringe players they picked stepped up, helping them win the series in its final match. A total of 14 players featured in the series for India across the three games, with Yuzvendra Chahal and Akash Deep being the only two to not get a game. Here are the ratings for these 14 players.

Ruturaj Gaikwad – 2/10

9 runs at 4.50, SR: 75, 0 fifties

Gaikwad’s inconsistent run in international cricket continued as he followed up a sparkling T20I series against Australia with a poor ODI series against South Africa. Gaikwad couldn’t get into double digits in both the games he played in the series.

Sai Sudharsan – 8/10

127 runs at 63.50, SR: 89.43, 2 fifties

Sudharsan made his international debut in this series and shone immediately. He scored an unbeaten fifty in the first ODI and followed it up with another in the second. The third game might have been a failure for him on a personal level, but both him and India will go back pleased with his performances in the series.

Rajat Patidar – 4/10

22 runs at 22, SR: 137.50, 0 fifties

Patidar was the other debutant for India in the series. Replacing Gaikwad in the third game, he played some spectacular shots before being dismissed for 22.

Sanju Samson – 8/10

120 runs at 60, SR: 87.59, 1 hundred

Samson batted at No.5 in the second game and was promoted to No.3 in the third where he scored his maiden international century eight years after making his debut for India. Whether this gives him a long run in the XI remains to be seen, but he did all that was under his control.

Shreyas Iyer – 7/10

52 runs at 52, SR: 115.55, 1 fifty

Iyer played the first game of the series and scored a fifty before he was rested to prepare for the Tests. He did, however, look a bit ungainly while dealing some of the short balls thrown at his way.

KL Rahul – 7/10

77 runs at 38.50, SR: 77.77, 1 fifty

Rahul led the side well throughout the series. He scored a fifty in the second game, continuing his wonderful form from the World Cup, and was sharp as ever with his DRS calls from behind the stumps.

Tilak Varma – 6/10

63 runs at 31.50, SR: 57.27, 1 fifty

The southpaw had a tough time adapting to the tempo of the format as he was too slow off the blocks in the second and third ODIs. However, he made up nicely by fighting it out and not throwing it away in the final game, scoring his first ODI fifty in the process.

Rinku Singh – 7/10

55 runs at 27.50, SR: 134.14, 0 fifties
1 wicket at 2, ER: 2

Rinku Singh also made his ODI debut in the series and continued from where he left off in the T20Is, playing his role of finisher nicely. His cameo of 38 from 27 took India from 217 in 41.2 overs to 296 in the third ODI, which ended up being a winning total.

Axar Patel – 5/10

8 runs at 4, SR: 30.76
1 wicket at 70, ER: 4.37

Axar made a comeback to the international side after the injury he suffered during the Asia Cup. He seemed out of any sort of form with the bat. With the ball, he didn’t get wickets, but like his counterpart Keshav Maharaj, was extremely economical and kept things tight on surfaces that didn’t offer much.

Kuldeep Yadav – 5/10

1 wicket at 51, ER: 4.85

Kuldeep did not have much to do in the first game where the seamers caused most of the damage. In the second game, he went wicketless, and was rested for the third.

Washington Sundar – 6/10

14 runs at 14, SR: 155.55, 0 fifties
2 wickets at 19, ER: 3.80

Sundar played the third match of the series and excelled with both bat and ball. Playing a nine-ball cameo of 14, he provided finishing touches with the bat in the first innings before bowling a spell of 2-38 off his ten overs to turn the game in India’s direction in the second.

Mukesh Kumar – 2/10

1 wicket at 148, ER: 6.16

Mukesh had a good start to the series, bowling an excellent first over to Reeza Hendricks in the first game. However, it all went downhill from there for him as he failed to provide control with both the new ball and the old.

Avesh Khan – 8/10

6 wickets at 19.16, ER: 4.82

Avesh came into the series with the experience of five ODIs, but it didn’t show in his performances as he adapted nicely across different phases of the innings. His two wickets in two balls in the first ODI all but ended South Africa’s hopes, and he picked the final wicket of Beuran Hendricks in the third game to close off the series.

Arshdeep Singh – 9.5/10

10 wickets at 9.50, ER: 3.51

Arshdeep was rightly named the Player of the Series. Having only played three ODIs before this and not picked a single wicket in them, Arshdeep was at his best, taking wickets with the new and old ball alike. To go with his ten wickets from three games, Arshdeep also smoked two nonchalant sixes while batting to raise hopes regarding the much frowned-upon batting abilities of India’s lower order.