Virat Kohli arrives in Ranchi ahead of 1st ODI against South Africa

Ranchi: Indian veteran cricketer Virat Kohli on Wednesday arrived in Ranchi ahead of the first India vs South Africa ODI match to be played on November 30 at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium.

Led by KL Rahul, India is set to face South Africa in a three-match ODI series, starting with the first match on November 30 in Ranchi, followed by fixtures in Raipur on December 3 and Vizag on December 6.

During Virat’s most recent outing, he enchanted the spectators by scripting one of his classic knocks, straight out of the vault, during India’s third ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground last month.

In the one-sided affair, Rohit Sharma delivered a batting masterclass with a swashbuckling 121* off 125 deliveries. On the other end, Virat anchored the innings with a composed 74* off 81 balls as India gunned down the 237-run target to notch an emphatic 9-wicket win.

A bona fide legend in 50-over cricket, Virat, the second-highest run-getter in ODIs of all time, is the fastest to achieve milestones of 8,000, 9,000, 10,000, 11,000, 12,000, 13,000, and 14,000 runs in the format’s history. In 305 ODIs, Virat has garnered 14,255 runs, and with a tally of 51, he holds the record for most centuries by a player in the format.

KL Rahul will be leading Team India in the upcoming ODI series against South Africa. Rahul will take over the captaincy as India will be without their designated ODI skipper, Shubman Gill. Gill suffered a neck injury during the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata and is currently undergoing further medical assessment in Mumbai.

India will also miss vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, who is out of action due to a spleen injury. Iyer sustained the injury while taking a stunning catch to dismiss Alex Carey during the third ODI against Australia in Sydney, landing awkwardly on his left side.

With both Gill and Iyer unavailable, KL Rahul has been given the responsibility to lead the side. Rahul brings a strong ODI resume, having scored 3,092 runs in 88 matches at an average of 48.31 and a strike rate of 88.41.

India squad: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (Captain) (Wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel.