With no Rohit Sharma, India's stand-in captain KL Rahul reveals he will open batting against South Africa in ODI series
IND vs SA ODI Series: KL Rahul, who is set to lead the side in the absence of the injured Rohit Sharma, addressed a virtual press conference. He said: “With no Rohit Sharma, I will bat at the top of the order
India's stand-in ODI skipper KL Rahul on Tuesday has confirmed that he will open the batting in the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa.
Rahul, who is set to lead the side in the absence of the injured Rohit Sharma, addressed a virtual press conference. He said: “With no Rohit Sharma, I will bat at the top of the order."
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah will serve as Rahul's deputy in the series.
"I had not given it a thought till the names came out, till the articles or news have been doing the rounds. Obviously, I had the opportunity to lead the Test side in Johannesburg and it was really special. The result did not go our way but it was a great learning experience for me and it would be something I will always be proud of," Rahul said when asked about Test captaincy.
"Leading the country is always special for anyone and I am no different. Yes, it would be a huge responsibility if given to me (being the Test captain). It is something that is exciting, I am not really looking to anything forward, I am just focusing on the present," he added.
Rahul's comments come days after Kohli announced his decision to stand down as India's Test captain.
Kohli holds the record for most Test appearances as India Test captain (68) and he also holds the record for most Test wins by an Indian captain (40). Only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, and Steve Waugh have won more matches than Kohli as captain in Test cricket.
Last year, Kohli had stepped down as the T20I captain and then he was removed as the ODI skipper after the selectors wanted to have just one captain for the white-ball formats.
India squad: KL Rahul (Captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Jayant Yadav, Navdeep Saini.
(With agency inputs)
