Revealed: Why KL Rahul was picked over Rishabh Pant as a captain for the ODI series against South Africa

KL Rahul captained India in the ODI series against South Africa in 2023 as well.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday (November 23) announced the Indian squad for the ODI series against South Africa. KL Rahul was named as captain in the absence of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer for the series, which begins on November 30.

Ahead of the ODI series, during the first test against South Africa, Shubman Gill got injured and the BCCI had to deal with a huge headache in the context of leadership for ODIs, especially with vice-captain Shreyas Iyer being in his rehab. There were a lot of speculations around the captaincy and various reports emerged too. 

It was learned that KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel were in contention to lead the team in ODIs. While some reports suggested that Pant, who is leading India in the second test in Guwahati, will be captaining the team, a few reports claimed that Rahul was the front-runner.

However, it was ultimately KL Rahul and the reason behind that has been revealed. As per the reports in PTI, it is learned that Rahul was named as captain over Pant as he has been regularly playing the ODIs for the team over the last few years.

Rishabh (Pant) wasn’t considered, as he has played only one ODI game in the last year – BCCI source

Rishabh Pant, who was part of the ODI squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025, also missed the Australia series and this was the reason why he wasn’t picked. The selectors are also hopeful that Gill will be back for the New Zealand series. 

“Rahul’s captaincy is a one-off and should be seen in isolation. Rishabh (Pant) wasn’t considered, as he has played only one ODI game in the last year. The selectors expect that Shubman Gill’s neck injury will heal and he will be back against New Zealand (3 ODIs in January 2026),” a BCCI source told PTI.

Apart from the development of Rahul leading the team, Ruturaj Gaikwad was back in the side following his performances against South Africa A. In the absence of Iyer, Tilak Varma also got the opportunity to be in the team. Ravindra Jadeja was back as well after missing the Australia series.

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