‘Rishabh Pant wasn't considered as he…’ - Truth revealed behind BCCI's decision to appoint KL Rahul as ODI captain

The appointment of KL Rahul over Rishabh Pant as the Indian ODI captain for the three-match series against South Africa raised quite a few eyebrows. Rahul's appointment came in regular skipper Shubman Gill is unlikely to be a part of the white-ball series against the Proteas, starting on November 30, following his neck injury during the first Test in Kolkata.

With Pant leading the Test side in the ongoing second match in Guwahati, expectations were that the wicketkeeper-batter would automatically be chosen for the role. ODI vice-captain Shreyas Iyer was also unavailable due to a rib-cage injury that sidelined him for a couple of months.

Based on a PTI report, Pant wasn't considered for ODI leadership because of his lack of game time in the 50-over format. Since November 2022, Pant has played just a single ODI for India. The southpaw last ODI came in August 2024 against Sri Lanka. He was also not selected in India's triumphant ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign in Dubai.

"Rahul's captaincy is one off and should be seen in isolation. Rishabh (Pant) wasn't considered as he has played only one ODI game in the last one year," a BCCI source told the news agency.

When will Shubman Gill return to action?

What looked a non-serious injury initially, turned out to be severe as Gill had to be hospitalised. Although he was discharged in a day, the BCCI don't want to take any risk with the Indian skipper. He was ruled out of the ongoing Test series and stand at a possibility of missing the ODIs and T20Is too.

With Rahul named as ODI captain, it is certain that Gill will miss the white-ball leg, which the BCCI is yet to communicate. Based on the report, Gill will return to action in New Year against New Zealand at home.

"The selectors expect that Shubman Gill's neck injury will heal and he will be back against New Zealand (3 ODIs in January 2026)," the source said.

India’s ODI squad against South Africa

Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (C) (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel

India's ODI schedule against South Africa

The BCCI is yet to announce the T20I squad which will be led by Suryakumar Yadav.