Gaining in confidence with every series, India's in-form young batsmen are set to be put through their sternest test this season when the team takes on the mighty South Africa in a three-match ODI series starting here tomorrow. It is an ODI contest with context but that has got nothing to do with the political intrigue that led to this tour being shortened. Nor is it just another three-match series between the number one and number five ranked sides. This affair has a certain context, all of it pertaining to what happens within the boundary ropes.

For Team India, it will be an exercise to reaffirm faith in their young batsmen. This is the same bunch that has been busy lighting up cricket grounds with some breathtaking stroke-play. Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, each have scored more than thousand runs in ODIs played this calendar year, each of them averaging over fifty. There can be two ways to look at this statistic.