Jaiswal To Open, Tilak Over Pant At 4? India’s Likely Playing XI For 1st ODI Against South Africa | Cricket News

India’s likely playing XI for 1st ODI against South Africa. (Picture Credit: PTI, AFP)

The first ODI of the three-match series between India and South Africa will be played at JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi on Sunday, November 30. In the absence of Shubman Gill, KL Rahul will captain the hosts, and the 15-member Indian all-rounder also features the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. In the absence of Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad are available options for India as openers, and there’s a high possibility that Jaiswal will get preference over the Chennai Super Kings skipper, at least for the series opener.

Jaiswal, who has played only one ODI for India so far, was part of India’s ODI squad in Australia as well but didn’t get a chance to be part of the playing XI.

Virat Kohli, who scored two ducks in the first two ODIs against Australia but bounced back with an unbeaten half-century in the third ODI at Sydney Cricket Ground, will bat at his usual No. 3 position, and it will be interesting to see who out of Rishabh Pant and Tilak Varma gets a chance to play as a No. 4 batter in Shreyas Iyer’s absence. Both Pant and Tilak haven’t played an ODI match for India in 2025.

Since captain Rahul is India’s first-choice wicketkeeper in ODIs, there’s a possibility that Indian team management could consider playing specialist batter Tilak at No. 4. The left-handed batter from Hyderabad was India A’s captain as well in the recently concluded three unofficial ODIs against South Africa A.

Rahul will bat at No. 5, and Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy are set to be the three all-rounders in India’s XI. Kuldeep Yadav only played one ODI in Australia but is set to play all three ODIs against the Proteas, and the onus of fast bowling will rest upon the shoulders of Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh.

Prasidh Krishna is also part of India’s squad, but it is highly unlikely that the Karnataka-based cricketer will get preference over Rana and Arshdeep.

India’s likely playing XI for the 1st ODI against South Africa: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (C & WK), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh.