KL Rahul to captain India in ODIs against South Africa, Pant, Jadeja, Gaikwad return

New Delhi: Senior wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul has been named captain of India’s ODI squad for the upcoming three-game series against South Africa, starting on November 30. The series will also see the return of Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad into the 50-over set-up.

IANS had previously reported on Sunday that due to Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer unavailable due to neck and spleen injuries respectively and recuperating under specialists’ care in Mumbai the leadership duties toss-up was between Rahul and Pant.

IANS understands that Rahul being a first-choice player in the ODIs meant he got the nod to be India’s captain for the series against the Proteas ahead of Pant, who’s leading India in the ongoing second Test in Guwahati. Rahul has captained India 12 times in ODIs from 2022 to 2023. He was also the captain when India beat South Africa in the 50-over series by 2-1 in 2023.

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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. With Gill unavailable, 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.

Veteran spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who was left out of the three-game ODI series in Australia, has been included for the series at the expense of Axar Patel, who could feature in the subsequent five-match T20I series.

With Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj rested, India’s fast bowling options for the series are Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh and seam-bowling all-rounders in Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, especially with Hardik Pandya undergoing rehab for quadriceps injury. The three ODIs between India and South Africa will be held in Ranchi (November 30), Raipur (December 3) and Visakhapatnam (December 6).

India squad: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (captain & wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, and Dhruv Jurel