PTI | New Delhi
Senior batter KL Rahul was on Sunday named India’s captain for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, while veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja returned to white-ball set-up after an eight-month hiatus.
Rahul was handed the reins of the team after regular skipper Shubman Gill was ruled out of the series due to a neck injury that he sustained during the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata.
Rahul has been given the captaincy with the short-term goal of the South Africa series in mind.
“Rahul’s captaincy is one off and should be seen in isolation. Rishabh (Pant) wasn’t considered as he has played only one ODI game in the last one year. The selectors expect that Shubman Gill’s neck injury will heal and he will be back against New Zealand (3 ODIs in January 2026),” a BCCI source said on condition of anonymity.
The series will begin on November 30 in Ranchi followed by matches in Raipur (December 3) and Visakhapatnam (December 6).
Jadeja, whose last ODI appearance came against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final in Dubai earlier in March, returned to the mix, primarily because left-arm spin all-rounder Axar Patel has been rested for
this series.
However, premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been accorded a rest as per his workload management plan. Mohammed Siraj was also given rest after playing two Tests against the Proteas in Kolkata and Guwahati.
Yashasvi Jaiswal might just get a chance to partner former captain Rohit Sharma. Jaiswal was a part of the ODI squad against Australia but did not get a chance to play as Gill opened with Rohit.
Virat Kohli too has been named in the squad and the home fans can once again witness outings from the fabled RoKo combine.
Ruturaj Gaikwad too got the selectors’ nod after a couple of impressive outings for India A against South Africa A in the recent unofficial ODI series in Rajkot.
The pace department will be manned by Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.
INDIA’S ODI SQUAD: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (C), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, and Dhruv Jurel.
