India national cricket team’s stand-in ODI captain KL Rahul has almost confirmed the selection of star batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad and superstar wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant in the playing eleven against South Africa.
Team India and Team South Africa are all set to face each other in the three-match ODI series. The ODI series will be hosted at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi on Sunday, November 30.
The next two matches will be played on Wednesday, December 3 and Saturday, December 6 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Ranchi and the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
He is good enough to play as a specialist batsman – KL Rahul on Rishabh Pant
Rahul has been appointed the captain of Team India for the ODI series against the Proteas. This happened because captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain are out due to their respective injuries.
The absence of two first-choice players from the playing eleven means that new names will get a chance against the South Africa national cricket team.
Shubman Gill can be replaced by Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top order, while Shreyas Iyer can be replaced by Rishabh Pant, Tilak Verma or Ruturaj Gaikwad at number 4.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, KL Rahul hinted that Rishabh Pant could be a starter in the playing eleven, and he can also keep wickets.
“For Rishabh, he is good enough to play as a specialist batsman, but we will see tomorrow. We are still discussing the playing XI, we will finalize this evening. Rishabh missed (the ODI) due to injuries, we know what he brings to the team. You will know tomorrow, but if he plays, he will be wearing gloves,” Rahul was quoted as saying by RevSportz and PTI.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is an amazing player – KL Rahul
Ruturaj Gaikwad has played 23 T20Is and 6 ODIs for India, his last appearance in ODI cricket was on December 19, 2023 at Gkebaraha, and his last T20I was against Zimbabwe on July 13, 2024 at Harare.
He has now made a comeback in India on the back of his heroics for India A against South Africa A as he scored 210 runs in the recent series.
Talking about Gaikwad, KL Rahul praised the right-handed batsman and said that he is looking forward to giving him a chance in the upcoming series. He said:
“Ruturaj Gaikwad is a phenomenal player. Such is the dynamic of our ODI top 5-6, it is very systematic. But whatever limited opportunities he has got, he has done well. Looking forward to giving him a chance in this series.”
No one can give a definite answer – KL Rahul
KL Rahul also opened up about the Indian batsmen’s struggle against the Proteas spinners in the Test series, which led to a humiliating clean sweep for the hosts. He said:
“Nobody can give a definitive answer, but we recognize that we didn’t play well. It won’t happen overnight; there are a lot of reasons for that. How can we improve individually? What technical changes can we make? We can demand answers individually.”
Also read: Rahul Dravid’s name out, Kapil Dev attacks Gautam Gambhir’s Team India after being eliminated from South Africa
