New Delhi: Senior batter KL Rahul was on Sunday named as India’s captain for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa.
Rahul was handed the reigns of the team after regular skipper Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the series with a neck injury that he sustained during the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata.
Wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant is the deputy of Rahul for the series, which begins on November 30 in Ranchi followed by matches in Raipur (December 3) and Visakhapatnam (December 6).
Tilak Varma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been added to the squad that toured Australia recently, with Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj missing out this time.
As reported earlier, Gill is currently in Mumbai for an assessment of his neck injury. The 26-year-old, who was named ODI captain just before the Australia tour recently, had to cut short his participation in the opening Test against South Africa after hurting his neck while batting in the first innings. He was subsequently ruled out of the ongoing Test as well with Rishabh Pant taking charge of the side.
Dhruv Jurel retains his spot despite Pant’s inclusion in the side. Axar, who was picked as the first-choice left-arm spinner for the Australia tour, failed to keep his spot though with the return of senior pro Jadeja.
Squad: KL Rahul (c/wk), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel
With both Gill and Iyer not being available, the selectors have gone with Tilak and Gaikwad in the 15-member squad. Furthermore, veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will headline the batting department that also consists of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who might get an opportunity to add to his solitary ODI cap.
While Nitish Reddy retains his spot with Hardik Pandya continuing to be unavailable, India will have only three frontline pacers – Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna – at their disposal with Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah not being considered on the back of a two-match Test series. Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Jadeja will make up the three spin options.
The series kicks off on November 30 in Ranchi before the teams travel to Raipur and Visakhapatnam for the second and third ODIs on December 3 and December 6, respectively. Following the conclusion of the series, the two teams will also play five T20Is.
