Karnataka batsman Rahul is captaining India in his 39th ODI.
Paarl (South Africa), KL Rahul, who captained India in the first ODI against South Africa (Ind vs SA 1st ODI Match), led the country in the 50-over format without captaining ‘List A’ cricket. Became only the third player to do so. Earlier, wicket-keeper batsman Syed Kirmani and aggressive opener Virender Sehwag have achieved this feat.
Rahul has been given the responsibility of captaining the team for the three-match ODI series as newly-appointed captain Rohit Sharma is not fully fit for this series. The selectors had earlier named Rohit as the captain of the shortest format as well as the ODI team after Virat Kohli stepped down as the captain of the T20 team.
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Karnataka batsman Rahul is captaining India in his 39th ODI. The last player to captain the team before playing 50 One Day Internationals for the country was Mohinder Amarnath, who led the team for the first time in October 1984.
When Mohinder led the team for the first time, he was playing his 35th ODI. South Africa have won the toss and elected to bat in this match and Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer is making his ODI debut. (agency)