KL Rahul ODI captain: Will KL Rahul become Team India captain for ODI series vs South Africa?

KL Rahul ODI captain: Newly appointed Team India ODI captain Rohit Sharma is still recovering with his hamstring injury.

Team India have commenced with the much-awaited tour of South Africa with the first of the three match Test series underway at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.

The tour also comprises of a three-match ODI series which would begin on January 19, 2022 just a day after the end of the third Test at Cape Town.

The BCCI’s selection committee, however, have not yet announced the team’s ODI squad despite naming Rohit Sharma as the team’s new skipper in the format on the very day they had announced an 18-member squad for the ongoing Test series.

Rohit, however, just before the team’s flight to South Africa, injured his left hamstring during a practice session in Mumbai, thereby forcing the board to rule him out of the Test series.

KL Rahul ODI captain: Will Rahul replace Rohit as ODI captain?

The 34-year-old, as per reports was expected to be fit again within 3-4 weeks, but his availability for the imminent ODI series is yet to be confirmed.

It is worth mentioning that Rohit had started his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) post his injury, and was also seen interacting with the India Under-19 boys who are currently competing for the Asia Cup title in Dubai.

While the status of his injury is yet to be ascertained, in the case of him not recovering before the start of the ODI series, the newly appointed Test vice-captain KL Rahul might replace him as India’s skipper.

As per a report by Sports Today, KL Rahul is all set to lead team India if Rohit Sharma misses out from the ODI squad against South Africa.

If #RohitSharma gets fit and match ready should he not play the last Test plus the ODI’s as planned…??? @BCCI #INDvSA

— Samip Rajguru (@samiprajguru) December 24, 2021

As far as the team’s squad is concerned, the same is likely to be announced by the end of this year.

As per a report by the PTI, the selection committee has been delaying their meeting for the ODI squad selection, only to get a clearer picture on Rohit’s availability for the series.

In case of Sharma failing to recover from his injury, Maharashtra’s Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has had an excellent run of form off-late will in all likelihood be handed his ODI cap, with recent reports confirming him being picked for the ODI series against the Proteas.