Explained: Why have Gambhir and KL Rahul dropped Rishabh Pant for IND vs SA 1st ODI

Rishabh Pant won't play IND vs SA 1st ODI [Source: AFP]

In a significant development, South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first in the ODI series opener against India at JSCA stadium in Ranchi. At toss, South Africa skipper Aiden Markram revealed that the visitors have rested Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj, while KL Rahul stated India's playing XI, which surprisingly didn't have Rishabh Pant. 

Why Rishabh Pant has been excluded from IND XI for 1st ODI vs SA

It's worth mentioning that India don't have their three key players- Shubman Gill, Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer- for the ODI series against South Africa. While Gill and Iyer have been sidelined from the series due to injury setbacks, Axar has been snubbed from the team. 

India have roped in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad as replacements for Gill and Iyer, respectively. However, while Pant was supposed to bat in the middle-order, India have roped in Sundar due to some key reasons as listed below. 

To persist with KL Rahul as wicketkeeper

Although Rishabh Pant made his ODI return for the South Africa home series, it's justified from India's perspective to persist with KL Rahul as their first-choice wicketkeeper. Had Pant played, he would've don the keeping gloves, with Rahul playing as a specialist batter. However, given how brilliant Rahul has been as a wicketkeeper, India have decided against making any changes to their tried-and-tested strategy. 

Washington comes in as Axar's like for like replacement

Axar Patel was India's regular number five, displacing KL Rahul to six in ODIs post-2023 World Cup. With Hardik Pandya injured, Axar's inclusion ensured India had ample bowling options without compromising their batting depth. 

So, as Axar's modest returns forced India to exclude him from the ODIs, Sundar emerged as his like-for-like replacement instead of Rishabh Pant, who doesn't give India a bowling option. Further, had India brought in Pant for Gaikwad, they would've had four left-handed batters in their top seven, making it easier for the South African bowling unit to strategise against them. So, to avoid such complications, India ignored Pant for the ODI series opener. 

India's playing XI for 1st ODI vs SA

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (c & wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna

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