Rohit out of South Africa ODIs, Rahul to lead

Dec 31, 2021

Rohit out of South Africa ODIs, Rahul to lead Image

KL Rahul will lead India in the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa in South Africa. Rahul has been appointed as captain in Rohit Sharma's absence, after the latter is yet to fully recover from a hamstring injury.

Rahul was recently named Rohit’s deputy in the T20Is. Now, it is confirmed that he will be India’s vice-captain in the ODIs as well in the future. As of now, Jasprit Bumrah has been named Rahul’s deputy.  

Along with Bumrah, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, none of whom has played an ODI in the last nine months, will return to the side. Shikhar Dhawan has also been recalled, while Ruturaj Gaikwad and Venkatesh Iyer have earned maiden ODI call-ups after performing impressively in IPL 2021 and domestic competitions.

TEAM : KL Rahul (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, R Ashwin, W Sundar, J Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar,Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 31, 2021

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj have all made the cut, while R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar are in as specialist spinners in the 18-member squad.

India’s three-match ODI series against South Africa will begin on 19 January at the Boland Park in Paarl.

India squad: K.L. Rahul (c),Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, R. Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj.