SA vs India: KL Rahul to open batting for India in ODI series

KL Rahul, who is standing in as India's captain for their upcoming ODI series against South Africa, said that he will be opening the batting in the absence of Rohit Sharma. The first of the three-match ODI series will be played in Paarl on January 19.

Rahul has batted for India in a number of different positions in the middle order with Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan opening the batting.

"The last 14-15 months I have batted at 4, 5, different positions, where the team needed me. With Rohit not being here, I will bat at the top," Rahul told reporters. "I'm not someone who has a lot of plans and



targets. I like to take one game at a time. That's how I've played my cricket and that's how I'll look to lead the team."

Rahul has replaced Dhawan as India's regular opener in T20Is with the latter not being selected in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup last year. It now remains to be seen whether India will go for Dhawan or Ruturaj Gaikwad as Rahul's opening partner in the ODI series.

"I have played under great captains like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli and hopefully I will use the learnings when I captain the team. I will make mistakes along the way but I will learn and get better," he said.