Rahul to continue as ODI finisher despite Gill and Iyer's absence

India's stand-in ODI captain KL Rahul has confirmed that he will continue to be one of India's designated finishers in the series against South Africa despite the absence of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. Rahul, who has been batting at No.5 for a while in ODIs, found himself moving down the order to No.6 earlier this year in the Champions Trophy. He has continued to bat at that spot ever since and will now continue to occupy that spot even though India will not have a couple of regulars in their batting order.

"I have not finalised the exact XI yet," Rahul said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday (November 29). "I have been playing at number six since the Champions Trophy, so I will be batting there. And obviously, we have all-rounders like Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Reddy - all these options are available to us. We will see what the best XI is and make that decision in the evening, and you'll know tomorrow."

On India's woes against spin at home in Test cricket, Rahul admitted that he is unable to pinpoint the exact cause but is hopeful of the team working out a solution by the time they step onto the field again to play the format. "I cannot give you a definitive answer," Rahul said. "I can only say that we have not been able to play well since the last two series. We understand and recognise that this is a part of our game. As a batsman, it is a part of recognising and realising that we are not able to play well.

"We are already trying to find ways to play the spin better. It won't happen overnight. I don't know why we used to play earlier and why we don't play now. There are a lot of reasons for this. But we can only think about how we can improve as players. How can we get better individually? When this situation comes back, we have a series in Sri Lanka after 6-7 months. After that, we have an Indian home series against Australia. How can we improve? What are the technical changes we need to make? These are the things that we individually try to seek answers and try to do better. That's all we can do."

For now, the immediate focus is on regaining some confidence albeit in a different format. The series is of some extra significance for Rahul given he has been handed the responsibility to lead the team in Gill's absence. "Just a day before the announcement, I was told that the opportunity might come and I might have to lead," Rahul recalled. "I have captained the side before. It is something that is very exciting. I look forward to enjoying that responsibility. I have always enjoyed responsibility, making the right decisions for the team. That's about it. I don't think too much about it.

"I obviously have Rohit (Sharma), Virat (Kohli), Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja), all the senior players around me who will help out. How we have all played our cricket is to think of it as we are all leaders and we try and do the best for the team. That continues whether I am captain or someone else is captain. It is always a collective effort to doing something in the direction of a bigger goal."

While he remained non-committal about the batting lineup, Rahul confirmed that Rishabh Pant would be taking the gloves if he is picked in the XI. The 33-year-old also welcomed the return of Jadeja and heaped praise on Ruturaj Gaikwad who was brought back into the squad for this series.

"Jadeja has obviously been part of the Indian team for so many years and he has done the job time and again," Rahul observed. "I am happy to have him back again with the ODI team. He missed out the Australia series but he was part of the Champions Trophy as well. And he was key in us winning that tournament. He is someone who can do everything and he is someone who has always done everything that the team has required of him. So, having him, having his experience obviously is great for me as a captain or whoever is captaining.

"Rutu obviously is a top class player. We have all seen it with whatever opportunities, limited opportunities he has got. He has really utilised it and shown what he can do. Unfortunately, in ODI cricket, the top 6 or top 5 is quite settled and they are performing really well. So, you feel bad for players that they don't get enough opportunities.

"Also at the same time, for the guys who are in the team, you feel happy that they are performing and doing the job for the team. So, it is unfortunate for the players that miss out. Now he has gotten his opportunity with a few injuries. So, he will get his opportunity at some stage. Looking forward to giving him that chance and letting him show what he can do. There is never a question mark about his skill and how good he is as a player."