(Cricket news) India have announced their 18-man squad for the 3 ODIs against South Africa. The 3 matches will be played on 19th, 21st and 23rd January respectively. The series will be the first since Virat Kohli was removed from ODI captaincy. The series will start India's preparation for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
India's Squad:
KL Rahul (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj.
Takeaways from the squad:
The series was supposed to be the first one with Rohit Sharma as a permanent ODI captain but an injury has prevented that from happening. KL Rahul is set to lead the side in Rohit Sharma's absence while Jasprit Bumrah has been named the vice captain of the side ahead of the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel aren't fully fit to be a part of the squad. Ravichandran Ashwin has returned to the squad for the first time since 2017. Mohammed Siraj is a part of the squad after impressive performances with the red ball. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Venkatesh Iyer are called up after impressive performances in the Vijay Hazare trophy. Washington Sundar is also back in the squad after his injury.
Mohammed Shami has been rested for the series while Prasidh Krishna keeps his place after a good series against England last time around. Shikhar Dhawan is likely to be the 1st choice opener in the 50-over format. KL Rahul has kept wickets and batted in the middle order in ODIs recently but he might open the innings in Rohit's absence. He is unlikely to keep wickets with Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant in the squad.
After all the talk about Virat Kohli's availability it turns out that he is in the squad. He will not lead the side even in Rohit Sharma's absence which will take some time to get used to. The series will be a great opportunity for Kohli to start the year well in white ball cricket. Indian fans will be hoping that the outside problems within the BCCI and Indian team camp doesn't affect the on field performances.
