KL Rahul has been appointed India’s captain for the three-match ODI series against South Africa after Shubman Gill was ruled out with a neck injury.
Gill, who suffered a whiplash while batting during the opening Test in Kolkata, is expected to need an extended period of rest and has also been deemed doubtful for the T20I series starting December 9.
Gill missed the second Test in Guwahati and is currently in Mumbai undergoing multiple medical tests, including an MRI, to assess whether the issue is muscular or nerve-related.
He has consulted spinal specialist Dr Abhay Nene, and the medical findings have been sent to chief selector Ajit Agarkar. According to BCCI sources, Gill has been given an injection to ease the symptoms but will not resume training immediately.
With Gill unavailable and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer still recovering from a spleen injury, the selectors opted for Rahul as a stop-gap leader for the ODI series beginning November 30 in Ranchi, followed by matches in Raipur (December 3) and Visakhapatnam (December 6).
Rishabh Pant, who is captaining the Test side in Gill’s absence, was not considered for ODI leadership due to limited 50-over game time in the past year.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is expected to open alongside Rohit Sharma, while Abhishek Sharma, a regular in India A’s List A squad, could be the reserve opener.
Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh are likely to lead the pace attack, with Akash Deep in contention.
Jasprit Bumrah will be rested after two consecutive Test series, and Hardik Pandya, recovering from a quadriceps injury, will remain limited to T20Is until next year’s World Cup.
In the spin department, Kuldeep Yadav may be unavailable due to personal reasons, leaving Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar as the primary options.
Gill’s recovery timeline remains uncertain, and his participation in the South Africa T20Is is also in doubt, BCCI sources added.