Picture Credit: BCCI
What a turbulent few months it has been for Team India and Indian cricket. While the Indian fans were hoping for a T20 World Cup win last year, even before the tournament began, Virat Kohli dropped a bomb by saying that he would want to step down as the T20I skipper but would like to continue to lead in ODIs and Test match cricket.
The Men in Blue then made an early exit from the biggest international platform of the shortest format of the game, losing to arch-rivals Pakistan for the first time in the history of World Cup cricket. With Kohli's stint as India's T20I captain coming to an end, he was later removed as the ODI skipper by the BCCI who thought that Rohit Sharma should be the man in charge in both the white-ball formats.
Also Read: Virat Kohli steps down from Test captaincy
And now after the recently concluded India-South Africa Test series, Kohli has even resigned as the Test captain, putting Indian cricket in a little spot of bother. However, for now, the focus of the Indian team has turned towards the limited-overs series with the three ODIs lined up against South Africa in the latter's home.
With Rohit still recovering from his injury, it is KL Rahul who is leading the Indian team for this series. The BCCI took to social media to share pictures ahead of the ODI assignment and what stood out was the fact that Rahul was seen talking to the rest of the boys as Virat Kohli and others simply seemed to listen attentively.
Also Read: KL Rahul to lead in ODIs against South Africa
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KL Rahul (centre) addresses the ODI squad in a huddle ahead of the first ODI vs South Africa at Boland Park on Wednesday. (Picture Credit: Twitter/@BCCI)[/caption]
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From Left to Right: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli and Shardul Thakur listen on as captain and coach share strategies prior to ODI series. (Picture Credit: Twitter/@BCCI)[/caption]
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From Left to Right: Jasprit Bumrah, Venkatesh Iyer and Jayant Yadav during the team meeting. (Picture Credit: Twitter/@BCCI)[/caption]
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India head coach Rahul Dravid (Right) speaks to the team as wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant listens. (Picture Credit: Twitter/@BCCI)[/caption]
India squad for three-match ODI series vs South Africa: KL Rahul (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, J Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Navdeep Saini (cover for Siraj).