Senior batter named captain as India announce squad for IND vs SA 2025 ODIs

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed KL Rahul as captain for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, announcing the 15-member squad on Sunday, November 23. The series begins on November 30, with the opening match scheduled at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi.

Regular skipper Shubman Gill will miss the series due to the neck injury he sustained during the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata. Vice-captain Shreyas Iyer is also unavailable after suffering a spleen laceration during the Sydney ODI against Australia last month.

Rishabh Pant, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Ravindra Jadeja have returned to the squad, while Axar Patel has been left out. The experienced duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are also included in the squad, while Jasprit Bumrah has not been selected.

Men in Blue’s ODI squad for the South Africa series: 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.

KL Rahul has captained India in 12 ODIs

With Shubman Gill unavailable, KL Rahul will captain the Men in Blue in the upcoming ODI series against South Africa. This will not be new for the Karnataka batter, as he already has experience leading the side in limited-overs cricket. Overall, Rahul has captained India in 12 ODIs, winning eight and losing four, giving him a win percentage of 66.66.

Rahul’s previous stint as ODI captain also came against South Africa during the three-match away series in December 2023, which India won 2-1. Under the 33-year-old’s leadership, the Men in Blue will look to bounce back after losing their last ODI series against Australia.

Looking at his batting record, the right-handed batter has featured in 88 ODIs, scoring 3,092 runs at an average of 48.31, including 18 half-centuries and seven centuries.

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Edited by Dev Sharma