KL Rahul to lead India in South Africa one-day series

ACE batter KL Rahul has been picked as the captain of the Indian squad that will take on South Africa in the three one-day international series scheduled later this month.

The 29-year-old, who slammed a match-winning hundred in the just concluded first Test match against the Proteas in Centurion, replaced Rohit Sharma who is yet to recover from the hamstring injury that ruled him out of the current Test series. Sharma was picked as the captain of the white-ball format replacing Virat Kohli on December 8 but the injury will see his captaincy debut in the 50-over format delayed.

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The elevation of Rahul, who is Virat Kohli’s deputy in the Test series and replaced Sharma for that position too, was confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Friday (31).

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Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah was chosen as the vice captain for the white-ball series. Speedster Mohammed Shami, who produced an excellent performance in the first Test, has been rested while spinners Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are injured. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer received his maiden one-day international call-up.

The three one-day international series will begin at Boland Park, Paarl, on January 19. The second game will take place at the same venue on January 21 while the third will be played at Newlands, Cape Town, on January 23.

India squad for three one-day internationals against South Africa: KL Rahul (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Y Chahal, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj.