Rahul will captain the ODI team against South Africa since Gill is unavailable; Pant is returning to the team

Rahul will captain the ODI team against South Africa since Gill is unavailable; Pant is returning to the team

India vs South Africa ODI Series: 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.

KL Rahul will captain India in the three-match ODI series against South Africa starting November 30.

With Shubman Gill injured, the squad sees returns for Rishabh Pant and Tilak Varma, while Bumrah and Siraj are rested.

India batter KL Rahul will captain the team in the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, starting November 30. Regular skipper Shubman Gill is still recovering from a neck injury he picked up during the first Test in Kolkata earlier this month.

Rishabh Pant returns to the ODI squad as the second wicketkeeper, having last played the format in August 2024. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been given rest after a busy schedule that included four home Tests, the T20 Asia Cup, and ODIs in Australia. Shreyas Iyer is also missing as he continues to recover from a spleen injury.

With Shreyas out, a middle-order spot has opened up for Tilak Varma, the young left-hander who recently played in the one-day series against South Africa A in Rajkot. Tilak has featured in four ODIs so far with modest results, but he is already a regular in India’s T20I team. He will compete for a place alongside Pant in a middle order that includes Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Ravindra Jadeja. All-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar are also part of the squad, while Axar Patel has not been included.

In Gill’s absence, Yashasvi Jaiswal is expected to open the batting with Rohit Sharma. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who impressed for India A with scores of 117, 68* and 25 in their recent series win against South Africa A, is the reserve opener. Gaikwad last played an ODI two years ago.

Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has been rested to manage his workload. The pace attack will be led by Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Harshit Rana. Dhruv Jurel has been named as a back-up middle-order batter.

Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya is in the final stage of recovery from a quadriceps injury. He has been named in Baroda’s squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s starting November 26 and could play the first few matches before selectors decide on his availability for the T20I series against South Africa. Hardik missed India’s last ODI assignment after getting injured during the Asia Cup in September.

The three ODIs will be played on November 30 in Ranchi, December 3 in Raipur, and December 6 in Visakhapatnam.

India's ODI squad for the South Africa series

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