India's stand-in ODI captain Kl Rahul has become the third Indian to lead the side without any List A captaincy experience. The Bengaluru-born batter took charge of the ODI team after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the South Africa tour with injury. Rahul, appointed deputy to the Mumbai-born player joined two former World Cup-winners Syed Kirmani and Virender Sehwag in the list to lead the team without List A captaincy experience.
The 28-year-old represents Karnataka at the domestic level, but never got the opportunity to lead the side in the 50-over format. However, he has captained the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS). There are also rumours that he will lead the new Lucknow-based franchise in the upcoming IPL 2022. The experienced campaigner was also in-charge of India's Test outing against South Africa in Johannesburg as India lost the Test match.
The occasion can serve as an audition stage for the right-handed batter as he is also a candidate to become the permanent captain in red-ball format. Last week, Kohli relinquished his Test captaincy after India lost the Test series 1-2 on South African soil. Both Rahul and Rohit are the front runners for the post.
He has become just the second player to lead the Indian side without playing 50 ODIs. The ongoing encounter against the Proteas is his 39th while Mohinder Amarnath led the team in his 35th ODI for the Indian team. Comparisons are high for the Karnataka player, but he will have to go through a litmus test in the three-ODI series.
The South African team made a flamboyant start to the first ODI as they posted 296/4. Temba Bavuma scored his second ODI ton hitting 110 off 143 deliveries while Rassie van der Dussen also scored his second ODI ton to end with 129 runs. The highest run chase at the venue belongs to the hosts. South Africa chased down the total of 248 against Sri Lanka in 2001. India have played three ODIs in Paarl winning two out of them whereas one ended in a tie. Before the first ODI of the ongoing series, India had never faced South Africa at this venue.
