MANISH PANDEY
Karnataka captain Manish Pandey has proven captaincy credentials in domestic cricket and has often led other teams as well. Pandey has been on top of his game off lately and has been identified as the finisher for the Indian team in limited-overs formats.
NZ v IND 2020: Manish Pandey reflects on New Zealand tour and his new role for Team India
He was at the top of his game in recent New Zealand series playing some important knocks for the team when they were in danger. The 30-year-old has finally made a niche for himself in the team as is often seen giving inputs to the leadership group as well.
He already led Karnataka to limited-overs victory last year. Karnataka won the 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Trophy, and 2018-19 and 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy under Pandey's leadership.
If both Kohli and Rohit are both unavailable for the SA series, the management might look at Pandey as a replacement as the captain.