India vs South Africa: Why BCCI chose KL Rahul over Rishabh Pant as ODI captain for South Africa series

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have announced India's squad for the three-match ODI series against South Africa, which will start from November 30, with the first match taking place in Ranchi. The Indian cricket board appointed veteran wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul as the captain for the series as regular skipper Shubman Gill missed out because of a neck injury he got during the first Test against same opposition in Kolkata.

Why KL Rahul was picked over Rishabh Pant

The BCCI reportedly considered KL Rahul because Rishabh Pant, who is also a part of the squad and leading India in the second Test, was out of consideration as he played just one ODI game in the last one year.

"Rahul's captaincy is one off and should be seen in isolation. Rishabh (Pant) wasn't considered as he has played only one ODI game in the last one year" a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.

KL Rahul's ODI captaincy record

The veteran wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul captained India in 12 ODIs, where the team came victorious in eight matches and suffered four defeats.

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When will Shubman Gill make cricketing comeback?

Sports Tak earlier reported that India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, who has been out of action since the first Test match against South Africa, will be out for the remainder of the series. The stylish batter will now be seen in the action next year and there are high chances that neck injury will heal, and he will be back against New Zealand (3 ODIs in January 2026).

India vs South Africa ODI schedule

1st ODI 30 November 2025 JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi
2nd ODI 3 December 2025 Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium, Raipur
3rd ODI 6 December 2025
Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA‑VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam

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.