SA vs IND: Jayant Yadav, Navdeep Saini added to India's ODI squad as Washington Sundar gets ruled out

Jayant Yadav and Navdeep Saini have been added to India’s squad for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa, starting from January 19. The duo’s inclusion came after off-spinner Washington Sundar got ruled out of the series after testing positive for COVID-19. Sundar was supposed to travel to Cape Town with the ODI members on Wednesday (January 12).

However, he’ll now miss the flight and Jayant Yadav, who’s a part of the Test squad, has been asked to stay back. On the other hand, Saini has been added as a back-up for pacer Mohammed Siraj, who is still recovering from his hamstring injury that he sustained in the 2nd Test against South Africa in Johannesburg. Notably, Siraj has been ruled out of the ongoing third Test and there are also doubts over his participation in the ODI series.

Navdeep Saini comes in as a backup for Mohammed Siraj

In case he fails to recover on time, Saini will take his place in the squad. It’s indeed a great chance for Saini and Jayant as the duo had gone out of the picture. Jayant, who played his only ODI in 2016, made a comeback in the Test team in 2021 after four years.

On the other hand, Saini seemed to have cemented his place in the team till last year. However, a series of mediocre performances meant he fell out of radar. However, the duo now have a chance to make a mark in the rainbow nation. Meanwhile, KL Rahul will lead the team in the ODI leg as new white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma misses out due to a hamstring injury.

Jasprit Bumrah will serve deputy to KL Rahul and expectations are high from him. Notably, India recorded a 5-1 triumph in their last ODI series against South Africa in 2018. Hence, the Men in Blue would like to replicate their heroics while the hosts would like to avoid the same.

India’s ODI squad for South Africa ODIs: KL Rahul (Captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj, Jayant Yadav, Navdeep Saini.