Srinagar, Nov 23 : India has named KL Rahul as the stand-in captain for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, with regular skipper Shubman Gill and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer unavailable due to injuries.
Gill is currently in Mumbai for a medical assessment of a neck injury he suffered during the opening Test against South Africa. The injury forced him to return home early and he was ruled out of the ongoing Test as well. Iyer is also recovering from an injury, leaving the selectors to hand the reins to Rahul.
The selectors have added Tilak Varma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad to the squad that recently toured Australia. Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj, however, have missed out this time. Dhruv Jurel has retained his spot even with Pant returning to the side.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will lead the batting unit, with Yashasvi Jaiswal likely to get another opportunity after earning his first ODI cap earlier. Nitish Kumar Reddy remains in the squad with Hardik Pandya still unavailable.
India will go into the series with three frontline pacers Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna as Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj have been rested following their involvement in the two-match Test series. The spin department will be handled by Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja.
The ODI series begins on November 30 in Ranchi, followed by matches in Raipur on December 3 and Visakhapatnam on December 6. The two teams will then play a five-match T20I series.(KNS)
