SA vs IND: 3 players who can lead India in South Africa ODIs if neither Rohit Sharma nor Virat Kohli is available

Team India has some major issues to resolve ahead of the upcoming tour of South Africa. Veteran Indian opener Rohit Sharma sustained a hamstring injury and subsequently got ruled out of the Test series. His participation in the ODI leg isn’t certain either. Notably, he had replaced Virat Kohli as India’s ODI skipper earlier this month.

Hence, the South Africa tour would have been his first assignment in full-time role. However, dark clouds are now looming over his participation. Moreover, it has been reported that Kohli will also give the ODI series a miss in order to attend his daughter Vamika’s first birthday. Hence, the Indian team will find itself in a spot of bother if none of the two are available for the three-match series.

In that case, it would be interesting to see who’ll lead the Men in Blue. Among active cricketers, only Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane have led the national team in the past besides Rohit and Virat. While Rahane hasn’t played any white-ball game since 2018, Dhawan’s selection is not certain. Hence, BCCI might have to go with a new option.

Let’s look at three players who can lead India in South Africa ODIs:

1. KL Rahul

One of the finest batters going around in white-ball cricket, KL Rahul is most likely to lead the team in Kohli and Rohit’s absence. The right-handed batter has emerged as a superstar of this format as he can torment the best of bowlers. While Rahul is consistent with his batting performances, his versatility sets him apart from other players.

The 29-year-old can open, bat in the middle-order and even finish the innings. If that’s not enough, he’s also a handy wicketkeeper. Hence, the selectors have all reasons to consider him. It must be noted that Rahul was named India’s vice-captain during the white-ball series in Australia last year as Rohit was injured.

Also, he led Punjab Kings in the last two Indian Premier League (IPL) editions. Hence, the dasher is the front-runner to don the captain’s hat if neither Rohit nor Virat is available.