KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant – who will be the captain of the ODI team?Image Credit source: Paul Kane/Getty Images
The second day of the test match between India and South Africa will be held on Sunday 23 November at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Team India would like to come out to bat as soon as possible after defeating South Africa in the first innings. Fans will keep an eye on this but Sunday will be more important for another reason. After the second day’s play, the squad will be selected for the ODI and T20 series against South Africa, in which most eyes are on who gets the captaincy for the ODI series.
After the end of the second Test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, the ODI series between the two teams will start from November 30, in which 3 matches will be played. After this, from December 9, these two teams will clash with each other for a 5-match T20 series. South Africa has announced its squad for both these series but the decision on Team India will be taken on Sunday.
The entire selection committee of BCCI including Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar is in Guwahati since the first day of the Test match and the committee meeting will be held after the second day’s play. Till a few days ago, an important issue of this meeting could have been the selection of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, but at present it seems that both will be selected for the ODI series. At this time, the biggest question before the selectors is the selection of the captain for this series because it is almost certain that the new captain Shubman Gill will not play in this series due to neck injury.
This challenge is even greater for the selection committee because vice-captain Shreyas Iyer is also out due to injury. In such a situation, he has only a few options. The easiest thing is to make former captain Rohit Sharma the captain for this only series. Still, if the selectors do not want to go back to the former captain, then KL Rahul is a strong option.
If the selectors are looking ahead then according to reports, Rishabh Pant may get a chance. Pant was a part of the Indian team in the Champions Trophy but he did not get a chance in a single match. Now not only can he make a comeback from this series, but he can also cement his place in the playing-11 of all three matches. Now it remains to be seen what decision the selectors take.
Talking about the rest of the players, in the absence of Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal is sure to finally get a chance to show his strength by opening with Rohit Sharma in the ODI format. While fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah may be given rest from this series, spinner Kuldeep Yadav is sure to be given leave for his marriage. In such a situation, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakraborty and Akshar Patel can handle the responsibility of the bowling attack.
Talking about the T20 series, it seems difficult for Gill to play in this series to be held from 9th December. In such a situation, here too Yashasvi Jaiswal may get a chance to open for the team, while Sanju Samson may also get a chance to play in the top order. However, the biggest decision regarding this series has to be taken regarding star all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Hardik, who got injured during the Asia Cup, is out of action for almost 2 months. In such a situation, whether he is fit and ready to return will be known on Sunday.