KL Rahul back as captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma return as India announce squad for ODIs against South Africa

KL Rahul is back in the leadership role as he will be leading the Indian Cricket Team in the three-match ODI series against South Africa. The keeper-batter has been given the responsibility to lead the team in the absence of regular captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer.

The Indian squad for the ODI series against South Africa saw the return of Ruturaj Gaikwad after a long time in the Indian setup. He will be a backup opener on the side to Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who are the two front-runners in the side. 

Rishhabh Pant is also back in the team after missing the Australia tour. He will be the second keeper in the team and is expected to bat in the middle order. Tilak Varma has also been picked, while Virat Kohli retained his place in the team. 

Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj, who was there in the previous series, has been dropped, while Ravindra Jadeja makes a comeback. Hardik Pandya also wasn’t there as he is still on the road to recovery from his injury.

Jadeja, Washington Sundar and  Nitish Kumar Reddy are the all-rounders. Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana are the three pacers in the team along with Kuldeep Yadav being the frontline spinner. 

India squad for the ODI series against South Africa

Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (C) (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel

India vs South Africa ODI series schedule