"The excitement among the crowd will be through the roof" - Team India star opens up on MS Dhoni potentially attending IND vs SA 2025 1st ODI

Team India stand-in ODI captain KL Rahul admitted that the crowd at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi will be on their feet if the legendary MS Dhoni chooses to attend the upcoming series opener against South Africa on Sunday, November 30. The former captain recently met with some players from the squad after inviting them to his farmhouse ahead of the first match.

Dhoni was part of the first international fixture hosted in Ranchi over a decade ago, when he led India to a comfortable seven-wicket win over England. On that occasion, he had promoted himself up the order to score the winning runs for the ardent crowd.

When India faced New Zealand in a T20I contest at the venue in 2023, MS Dhoni had attended the match with his wife.

KL Rahul admitted that Dhoni attending the match is a possibility and expects the crowd to be at their lively best if it happens.

"We have all been a fan of MS Dhoni. We have played under him. To know someone like MS, is a great opportunity in life. If he comes to the ground, the excitement among the crowd will be through the roof. We want to win the game and entertain the crowd," KL Rahul said during the pre-match press conference (via RevSportz).

Team India have a decent record in Ranchi across all formats, losing only three out of 13 matches. The last time the Men in Blue faced the Proteas at the venue, they emerged winners after a prolific run chase led by Shreyas Iyer's ton.

"There's massive disappointment" - KL Rahul opens up on Team India's home series loss in IND vs SA 2025 Tests

The upcoming ODI series comes at a very delicate time for Team India despite their white-ball prowess. The squad and the fans are only beginning to recover from a 0-2 drubbing by Temba Bavuma and co. on home soil, which included a 408-run loss in the second Test in Guwahati, the biggest-ever loss for India.

KL Rahul revealed that there is disappointment behind the scenes, but also the intention to move forward and not linger.

"There's massive disappointment that we couldn't do well in Kolkata and Guwahati, but we want to keep that behind and focus on winning the ODI games," Rahul said.

"We are trying to find ways to play spin bowling better. I don't know the answer as to why players from the past used to play spin better. If players from the past played spin better, we might go to them and seek answers," he concluded.

The crushing home series loss, the second one in the space of 12 months, pushes India to the fifth spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings.