India vs South Africa ODIs: Washington Sundar ruled out, Navdeep Saini and Jayant Yadav included as cover

Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the ODI series against South Africa after failing to recover from the coronavirus. Sundar, who is currently at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, tested positive about a week ago and was in isolation. But, he had not recovered significantly and thus had to pull out of the three-match ODI series. Jayant Yadav, who was played in the Mumbai Test against New Zealand and is currently in South Africa, has been added to the ODI team as well.

In another major development, Navdeep Saini has been included as cover for Mohammed Siraj for the South Africa ODIs. Siraj hurt his hamstring in the Johannesburg Test and did not recover for the Cape Town Test. The BCCI is monitoring his progress and will make a decision soon as to whether Siraj will play the ODI series. Saini last played for India in the Brisbane Test against Australia where he got injured.

The members of the ODI team are scheduled to leave for South Africa on Wednesday. They will all go by a special charter flight.

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Saini’s good form for India A in the three-match series against South Africa in Bloemfontein probably helped his cause. Saini took 11 wickets in the three matches and was impressive with his pace.

India’s ODI team will be led by KL Rahul, with Jasprit Bumrah appointed as the vice-captain. Rohit Sharma will miss the series as he has not recovered significantly from the injury that he sustained a couple of months ago. Virat Kohli was asked to vacate the captaincy of both the T20 and ODI sides just before the tour of South Africa. Kohli had already announced that he would not be the captain of the T20 side after the end of the ICC World T20 in 2021. But, his removal as ODI captain came as a big surprise and it resulted in miscommunication as well as controversy.

The Indian cricket team is currently playing the Tests against South Africa. India won the first Test in Centurion by 113 runs. However, they suffered a loss in Johannesburg for the first time in history as South Africa chased down 240 thanks to Dean Elgar’s 96*. In the Cape Town Test, Virat Kohli hit 79 but the Indian cricket team ended up being dismissed for 223. In response, South Africa has started well and is looking in good touch.

The ODI series will begin on January 19 and end on January 23. The first two games will be held in Boland Park, Paarl. The final match will be held in Cape Town.