India batter KL Rahul has been named captain for the three-match series against South Africa, starting on November 30. Rahul takes over as stand-in captain with regular skipper Shubman Gill unable to make a complete recovery from the neck injury that he suffered in the first Test in Kolkata earlier this month. His unavailability has created a temporary captaincy vacancy, and the selectors have backed Rahul to lead in the series, which is spread across Ranchi, Raipur and Visakhapatnam.
Another significant inclusion in the squad is that of Rishabh Pant, making a return to the ODI fold. Pant, who last played a Test in August 2024, has been picked as the second wicketkeeper and is also unlikely to be retained for his ability to slot into the middle order, depending on the team combination. Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, has been given a break after having played all four home Tests in England this year as well as the T20 Asia Cup and the ongoing ODI series in Australia. Shreyas Iyer’s absence continues as he is still recuperating from a lacerated spleen and that will be a void in the middle order.
To replace the empty slot, Tilak Varma has been added to the roster. The young left-arm quick was part of the one-day series against South Africa A in Rajkot recently, and although he has only four ODIs under his belt so far, he is also a feature in the T20I set-up now. Tilak could be challenged by Pant for a spot in the playing XI, forming part of the middle-order lineup that also features names such as Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. The allrounder category includes Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar, while Axar Patel does not find a place in the list.
Yashasvi has been promoted to open, with Ruturaj Gaikwad his stand-by; the latter impressed for India A, hitting 117 and 68* opening in a recent series, before scoring 25 in the middle order. Pacer Mohammed Siraj has been given rest to manage his workload, in which case Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana will lead the pace attack. Dhruv Jurel also found a place as the second-choice middle-order batsman.
Elsewhere, Hardik Pandya is on the verge of full recovery from his quadriceps injury and has been included in Baroda’s squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy starting November 26. It is up to his performances in early matches if management includes him in the T20s against South Africa.
India’s ODI squad for the South Africa ODI Series 2025
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (capt & wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
Read More: South Africa National Cricket Team vs India National Cricket Team Timeline
