Rahul will captain India in the upcoming 3 ODIs against South Africa starting January 19.
Rahul had made his Test captaincy debut as well when he led India in the second Test of the recently concluded series against South Africa after Virat Kohli pulled out to a stiff back, which India lost by 7 wickets.
Now with Virat Kohli resigning as Test captain on January 15, a slot for a new captain has opened up and Rahul along with Rohit Sharma is seen as a top contender for the job.
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"I had not given it a thought till the names came out, till the articles or news have been doing the rounds. Obviously, I had the opportunity to lead the Test side in Johannesburg and it was really special. The result did not go our way but it was a great learning experience for me and it would be something I will always be proud of," Rahul said during a virtual press conference.
"Leading the country is always special for anyone and I am no different. Yes, it would be a huge responsibility if given to me (being the Test captain). It is something that is exciting, I am not really looking to anything forward, I am just focusing on the present," he added.
Rahul will be leading the Indian team in the ODI series after Rohit Sharma pulled out of the tour due to his hamstring injury.
India ODI squad:
KL Rahul (Captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Jayant Yadav, Navdeep Saini.
(ANI inputs)