KL Rahul Named Captain For South Africa ODIs As Shubman Gill Misses Out Due To Injury

KL Rahul was appointed captain for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa in place of the injured Shubman Gill. Gill, who suffered a neck injury during the first Test match against SA and missed the second one in Guwahati, was not picked for the series. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli both made the cut with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad also being included. Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah was rested for the ODI series while Hardik Pandya was also not named in the squad. The first ODI match will take place on November 30 with the next two taking place on December 3 and December 6 respectively.

Pant, meanwhile, makes a return to the ODI team as well after rehab for a fractured right foot prevented him from playing in the series against Australia last month, where India lost 2-1.

Yashasvi Jaiswal retains his place and could well open with Rohit Sharma against the Proteas.

But he will face stiff competition from Gaikwad, who has been in scintillating form of late and is coming off hitting a century and a half-century in a three-match 50-over series against South Africa ‘A' in Rajkot.

Left-handed batter Tilak Varma also makes a return after his last ODI came in December 2023, while Dhruv Jurel retains his spot. It will be interesting to see who between Pant, Varma and even Rahul could bat at four in Iyer's absence.

Both Kohli and Rohit only play the 50-over format after they quit T20 cricket following the team's 2024 World Cup victory and earlier this year retired from Tests.

India's ODI vice-captain Shreyas Iyer is recovering from a lacerated spleen he suffered when falling heavily in a one-day clash against Australia in Sydney last month.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant return to the ODI team.

India's squad for South Africa ODIs: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (C) (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel.

(With agency inputs)

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