KL Rahul to lead India in ODI series against South Africa; Ruturaj earns recall, Jadeja and Pant return

NEW DELHI: KL Rahul will be leading Team India in the upcoming ODI series against South Africa, beginning November 30 in Ranchi. Rahul will take over the captaincy as India will be without their designated ODI skipper, Shubman Gill.

Gill suffered a neck injury during the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata and is currently undergoing further medical assessment in Mumbai.

The 26-year-old sustained the injury on Day 2 of the Kolkata Test and was taken to the hospital after retiring hurt in the first innings after facing just three deliveries. He has not recovered in time for the second Test and will continue his evaluation in Mumbai.

India will also miss vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, who is out of action due to a spleen injury. Iyer sustained the injury while taking a stunning catch to dismiss Alex Carey during the third ODI against Australia in Sydney, landing awkwardly on his left side.

With both Gill and Iyer unavailable, KL Rahul has been given the responsibility to lead the side. Rahul brings a strong ODI resume, having scored 3,092 runs in 88 matches at an average of 48.31 and a strike rate of 88.41.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are set to return after the Australia series. Ruturaj Gaikwad also makes a comeback following an outstanding India A series against South Africa A, where he scored 210 runs in three matches at an exceptional average of 105, including a century and a half-century.
Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja are back in the ODI setup as well, adding further strength to India’s squad.

India is set to face South Africa in a three-match ODI series, starting with the first match on November 30 in Ranchi, followed by fixtures in Raipur on December 3 and Vizag on December 6.

India squad: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (Captain) (Wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper),

Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel. (ANI)