India squad for South Africa ODIs announced: KL Rahul to lead, Ruturaj Gaikwad makes the cut, Ravindra Jadeja returns

India squad for South Africa ODIs announced: KL Rahul to lead (AFP Photo)

The squad for the three-match ODI series against South Africa, starting from November 30, was announced by BCCI on Sunday. KL Rahul will be leading the unit in the absence of regular skipper Shubman Gill, who misses out due to a neck injury that he sustained while batting in the Kolkata Test. Shreyas Iyer, Gill's deputy in the 50-over format, also is recovering from a rib injury that he sustained in the third and final ODI in India's recent tour of Australia.

Meanwhile, India's senior pros Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who now only play the ODI format, will be back in action. The duo were part of the team that travelled Down Under, where Rohit did make an impression. The former India captain accumulated 202 runs from three matches, which was the highest by any player in the three-match contest. Meanwhile, Kohli had registered consecutive ducks before firing a clinical 74* in the final ODI.

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Wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant is the deputy of Rahul for the series. The series gets underway in Ranchi (November 30) followed by matches in Raipur (December 3) and Visakhapatnam (December 6).

Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad has also earned an India call-up, which comes after a strong show in the recent India A vs South A matches. Gaikwad had finished as the top-scorer, amassing 210 runs from three encounters, which included a century.

Ravindra Jadeja also makes a return to the 50-over format, who'll be joining Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar in the spin department. The addition of Kuldeep comes at a time when reports emerged of him seeking a break for personal reasons.

India’s ODI squad: 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