India have made interesting selections.
India have announced their squad for the three-match ODI series against South Africa. There are some big changes from the Australia tour, where India suffered a series defeat. A few changes are forced, while others look perplexing.
The biggest news is that KL Rahul has been appointed as the captain. Rishabh Pant is also back in the setup. A few big names are rested for the rubber.
We look at three major absentees from India’s ODI squad for the South Africa series.
Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, and Hardik Pandya were unavailable for the rubber due to injuries. Gill suffered a neck spasm, which ruled him out of most of the first Test and the full second Test against South Africa. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer sustained a major injury while fielding in Australia, which later turned out to be more serious than initially perceived.
He is on the recovery path, but will need more time than expected before getting back to the park. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya suffered a quadriceps injury in the Asia Cup 2025 and has been working on getting fully fit. His absence has opened the door for Nitish Kumar Reddy, but Hardik’s absence remains significant.
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Axar Patel was surprisingly preferred over Ravindra Jadeja for the Australia tour, but the management has dropped the plan after one series. Jadeja is back in the mix, with Axar out of the team. It is indeed surprising that someone seen as a left-arm specialist in a series before is ignored altogether.
He did a decent job in Australia, picking three wickets at 29.66 runs apiece in three outings, with a best of 1/18. Axar doesn’t have any injury concerns since he played in the first Test against South Africa. They have chosen Washington Sundar as the other spin-bowling all-rounder in the squad.
Mohammed Siraj was another pacer on the Australia tour who didn’t find a spot in the squad. There’s a possibility of him being rested after playing non-stop cricket since the England tour. No other reason justifies his omission.
It’s a wise decision since this works in two ways for India: Siraj gets a well-deserved break, while the team can try other pacers like Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna. The pace stocks are not as high, given Jasprit Bumrah needs constant managing, and such series provide them with an option to test fringe options. The only way to develop them is by giving as much game time as possible.
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