India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul has said that Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Sanju Samson will bat in the middle order (5 or 6) during the India vs South Africa three-match ODI series which will start from December 17 to 21. Rahul also confirmed the news during the pre-match conference where he also said that he will be doing wicket-keeping and batting in the middle order in this ODI series as well.

However, Team India is currently playing against South Africa where the series kicked off with a drawn T20I series. Suryakumar Yadav-led team levelled the 20-over format series by 1-1 against the Aiden Markram-led team as well. Now the focus has shifted to the ODI format, where KL Rahul will lead the team. The Indian side will play their first ODI game on Sunday in Johannesburg.

KL Rahul said “I will be doing Wicket-keeping & batting in middle order in this ODI series – happy to take any role in the Test series which captain & management wants (talking about keeping role) – of course, even in T20, I want to play for my country.”

KL Rahul also confirmed that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star player Rinku Singh will get the opportunities in the upcoming ODI series. Notably, India’s regular ODI captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli have been rested for the white-ball series.

Squads:

India squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Akshar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep

South Africa Squad: Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lizaad Williams, Wiaan Mulder, Ottniel Baartman, Mihlali Mpongwana, Kyle Verreynne