To the excitement of the cricket fans, the Indian side will be facing off against South Africa in the 1st ODI on Thursday at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

Although the Indian side will come into the match with optimal confidence after obtaining six ODI titles in 2013, the Proteas will be looking to rebound following its loss in a three-match ODI series versus Pakistan on its home turf.

India will clearly be at top form in terms of its batsmen with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan has reached the maximum amount of centuries (5) in ODIs this year.

In bowling, India will look for Bhuvneshwar Kumar to be at his best when it comes to swinging the ball both ways. However, most of the attention will be on Mohammad Shami, who put up quite the spell of swing when he bowled in Sachin Tendulkar's farewell series.

For those of you who have Sky Sports or would like to sign up, simply CLICK HERE to watch India face off against South Africa in the 1st ODI via live stream.  Coverage of the match is set to begin at 9:00 a.m. IST on Thursday, Dec. 5.