IND vs SA: KL Rahul to captain as BCCI announces ODI squad against South Africa with three changes after Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer's injuries

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have announced India's ODI and T20I squad against South Africa which is scheduled to start from November 30. After finishing the Test series, the Men in Blue will play a three-match ODI series followed by a five-match T20I series against the Proteas. 

Why Shubman Gill was ignored in ODIs against South Africa

India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, who suffered a neck injury during the first Test match against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, has been ruled out of the series. In his absence, veteran wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul will lead the side. Apart from Gill, Iyer, who was rewarded with vice-captaincy during India's last assignment against Australia, also missed out as he is also recovering from a rib injury he got while taking a catch in the third clash at Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney.

Gaikwad included in ODIs after a two-year gap

The Indian Cricket Board have added Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad as Gill's replacement for the ODIs. Notably, the 28-year-old batter who made his ODI debut against South Africa in 2022 has played six ODIs so far, where he has amassed 115 runs with a highest score of 71 runs.

Tilak Varma to get an ODI call-up

India's Asia Cup final hero Tilak Varma has also been included in the squad after two years. The batting all-rounder has played four ODIs, where he scored 68 runs with a highest score of 52. Tilak's last ODI outing came against South Africa in December 2023.

Changes in India's ODI squad against South Africa

The BCCI made three changes in their ODI squad as they have added Ravindra Jadeja, who missed a spot in ODIs against Australia, and apart from that, the BCCI have also added Rishabh Pant, who missed India's last ODI assignment due to injuries. Apart from this, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel, who were part of India's Champions Trophy 2025 winning squad, have also missed a spot for the upcoming fifty-over assignment against the Proteas. Apart from that, speedster Mohammed Siraj, who is currently featuring in the Test series, has also been rested for the series. 

India vs South Africa ODI schedule

India's ODI squad against South Africa

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.