KL Rahul named stand-in captain for South Africa ODIs, Ravindra Jadeja returns

KL Rahul has been named as a stand-in captain for the three-match ODI series against South Africa. Rahul has been named as a skipper after Shubman Gill was ruled out with a neck spasm, whereas vice-captain Shreyas Iyer is still recovering from the injury he suffered in Australia ODIs. Gill is currently in Mumbai for an assessment of his neck injury.

Ravindra Jadeja, who was not included in the ODI series against Australia, returns to the squad. Ruturaj Gaikwad has also been added to the ODI squad after Shubman Gill was ruled out.

Dhruv Jurel retains his spot despite Pant’s inclusion in the side. Axar Patel, who was picked as the first-choice left-arm spinner for the Australia tour, has been excluded as Jadeja has been picked. 

Furthermore, Nitish Reddy retains his spot but Hardik Pandya continues to miss the action as he has yet to recover. Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna are the three main fast bowlers, whereas Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah will be rested after the ongoing two-match Test series.

Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Jadeja will make up the three spin options. Tilak Varma is also been added to the ODI squad, whereas Jaiswal is expected to be the first-choice opener with Rohit Sharma.

The first ODI between India and South Africa will be played at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, on Sunday.

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