KL Rahul on Wednesday led India in the first ODI against South Africa at Boland Park, Paarl and in the process, became only the third player to captain the country in the 50-over format without having captained in 'List A' cricket previously.
Rahul, 29, was handed the captaincy for the three-match ODI series after newly-appointed skipper Rohit Sharma skipped the tour to recuperate from a hamstring injury.
The other two Indian players, who achieved this rare feat are wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani and flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag.
Rahul, who hails from Karnataka, is also captaining India for the first time in his 39th ODI and the last time a player led the country before playing 50 ODIs was Mohinder Amarnath in October 1984, in his 35th ODI.
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India also handed ODI debut to Venkatesh Iyer. The 27-year-old has played three T20Is for India. Interestingly, the match also witnessed India fielding spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal for the first time together.
Also, for the first time in a decade, Virat Kohli is playing as a batter in the ODIs. The last time Kohli was neither a captain or vice-captain for India in the format was at Hobart in 2012.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to bat first. The Proteas handed ODI debut to Marco Jansen.
Playing XIs
India: KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.
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South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma (c), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi.
