India's strongest playing XI for the ODIs vs South Africa ft. Yashasvi Jaiswal & Rishabh Pant

As the Test series nears its conclusion, India will soon set their sights on the upcoming ODI rubber against South Africa. The two teams will face off in three 50-over games, with the opening encounter scheduled for Sunday, November 30.

India will not be anywhere near full strength for the series. Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill are out injured, while Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have been rested. All-rounder Hardik Pandya is expected to feature in domestic cricket but hasn't been named to take on the Proteas.

India squad for the South Africa ODI series: KL Rahul (c), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel.

On that note, here is India's strongest playing XI for the ODIs against South Africa.

---

Openers: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma

Australia v India - ODI Series: Game 3 - Source: Getty

It's a miracle that Yashasvi Jaiswal hasn't established himself as a regular in the ODI format so far. The talented left-hander will finally get a chance to open the batting in Gill's absence. He knows a thing or two about batting with Rohit Sharma and will likely welcome that prospect.

Ruturaj Gaikwad could serve as the backup opener, although a middle-order role won't necessarily be a bad idea for a player of his skillset.

---

Middle Order: Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar

Australia v India - T20 Series: Game 3 - Source: Getty

Virat Kohli will have all eyes on him as he faces off against South Africa. The superstar batter will need a few notable scores to squash doubts over whether he should be part of India's future.

Shreyas' absence should prompt India to play Rishabh Pant at No. 4, ahead of Tilak Varma. While both left-handers aren't elite in the white-ball formats, Pant has arguably ticked off more boxes at this point. Dhruv Jurel is another option, but the talented youngster still needs to tune his game.

India will need batting depth in the ODI format, and having three specialist fast bowlers in home conditions might be overkill. Nitish Kumar Reddy should feature as the third pace option, while Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar are the easy choices to be the spin-bowling all-rounders.

Captain KL Rahul will bat at No. 5 and likely don the gloves as well.

---

Lower Order: Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna

Australia v India - T20 Series: Game 4 - Source: Getty

India have flirted with the idea of dropping Kuldeep Yadav in ODIs, but that just isn't on. The talented spinner needs to feature, even at the expense of a third specialist quick.

Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh could be the team's best options in the pace department, considering their superior ability across phases. Harshit Rana's form has shown an upturn in recent times, but he arguably isn't as well-rounded as the other two in the 50-over format.