"It Felt Really Awkward": Aakash Chopra On India's Squad For South Africa ODIs

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced India's squad for the upcoming thee-match ODI series against South Africa, starting January 19. The BCCI announced that KL Rahul will lead the 18-man squad in the absence of injured white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma, despite the presence of Test captain Virat Kohli, while Jasprit Bumrah has been named vice-captain. While analysing India's squad selection for the ODI series, former India batter Aakash Chopra said that he got a "small realisation" on Kohli after the announcement. 

Chopra admitted that he felt "really awkward" seeing no "c" (captain) beside Kohli's name in the Indian squad, adding that not seeing the latter leading the side in white-ball cricket will take "time to sink in". 

"I will be very honest with you. There was a small realisation when I was going through the squad. There was a no 'c' after Virat Kohli's name and it felt really awkward; because for years, we have seen that happen," he said in a video uploaded on his YouTube Channel. 

"Recently in the T20I series we saw that, but then again Kohli wasn't even part of the series. But being part of the team and then there is no 'c' written after his name, it will take some time to sink in. But Virat isn't the captain anymore and we all know that already," he added. 

Kohli had stepped down from T20I captaincy after India's forgettable campaign in the T20 World Cup in the UAE earlier this year. 

Despite saying that he intended to continue leading the team in Tests and ODIs, the 33-year-old was replaced by Rohit as India's full-time white-ball captain last month. 

Team India squad for ODI series vs South Africa: 

KL Rahul (Capt.), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, R Ashwin, W Sundar, J Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj 

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Virat Kohli KL Rahul Jasprit Bumrah Aakash Chopra South Africa vs India 2021/22 Cricket Boland Bank Park, Paarl