Guess who might lead India in ODIs? KL Rahul might be leading India again! The IND vs SA ODI Squad announcement is dropping in the next few days. Injuries forced BCCI’s hand on this one.
South Africa revealed their ODI squad on November 22. India’s squad announcement should come any day now. Everyone’s refreshing BCCI’s social media.
The squad announcement covers both the ODI and T20I series versus South Africa. Three ODIs will happen in Ranchi, Raipur, and Visakhapatnam. Then five T20Is across Cuttack, Mullanpur, Dharamsala, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad.
South Africa ODI Squad:
Temba Bavuma (C), Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Quinton de Kock (WK), Tony de Zorzi, Rubin Hermann, Keshav Maharaj, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Prenelan Subrayen.
South Africa T20 Squad:
Aiden Markram (C), Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock (WK), Tony de Zorzi, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Tristan Stubbs.
Why KL Rahul Gets the India Captain Role?
Shubman Gill is still recovering from that nasty neck injury. He might be available if he recovers on time. But BCCI selectors can’t wait around forever for his fitness.
Gill was recently appointed as the ODI captain before getting injured. Unfortunately, his availability now looks doubtful for the entire series.
Shreyas Iyer is also ruled out completely with injury. The vice-captain won’t return for a 3-4 months recovery. That’s a long time away from cricket for him.
With both Gill and Iyer unavailable, KL Rahul becomes the obvious choice. He held the India captain position previously and won the series against Australia. Rahul knows the job well already.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will return to play the ODIs. That’s the highlight of the series.
Other Captaincy Options and IND vs SA ODI Squad
The BCCI considered other names before selecting Rahul. Rishabh Pant was definitely in the conversation. So were Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya. But Rahul’s experience just made more sense right now.
Jasprit Bumrah might not play the ODI series. They’re saving him for bigger battles ahead. He might show up for the T20Is later though.
Hardik Pandya’s injury keeps him out of ODIs too. He’ll be back swinging for the T20I series once he’s fully fit.
Now here’s the exciting part – Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal are hopefully locks for the IND vs SA ODI Squad. Both guys have been demolishing bowling attacks in domestic cricket lately. Their form knocks on the selectors’ door every day.
The official squad announcement will end this guessing game soon enough.
