Former Indian opening batter Aakash Chopra has revealed his eleven for the hosts for the first ODI against South Africa on Sunday, November 30, in Ranchi. Chopra omitted Tilak Varma from his playing eleven for the series-opener and instead chose Rishabh Pant to bat at No. 5 in the match.Pant has been outstanding in Test cricket but has struggled in the white-ball format. Having played 31 ODIs since his debut in October 2018, the left-hander averages a modest 33.50 with 871 runs, including one century and five half-centuries. Also, the 28-year-old has not played a 50-over game since August 2024. Chopra said Pant deserves a spot over Varma, given that the former was part of Team India's victorious Champions Trophy 2025 squad but didn't get a game.Chopra picked Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli as his top three. At No. 6, he went with seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, followed by spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh completed the pace-bowling department, while Kuldeep Yadav is a frontline spinner in the eleven.Aakash Chopra's XI for first ODI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (c), Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh."He's good enough to play as a batter as well" - India captain KL Rahul on Rishabh PantKL Rahul. (Image Credits: Getty)KL Rahul, who will don the captaincy role in Shubman Gill's absence, opened up on Pant's role, saying that he missed out on the tour of Australia due to a toe injury. However, Rahul insisted that the 28-year-old will take the keeping gloves if he makes it to the eleven on Sunday. He said in the presser on Saturday, as quoted by IANS:"Rishabh obviously missed out due to injury. He's been with the team for a long time. Everyone has seen what he brings and what he can do for the team. With the players who are already in the team and who are performing, sometimes you just have to wait for your opportunity. You'll find out tomorrow who will be left behind. Obviously, he's good enough to play as a batter as well. But if he's in the 11, he'll take the gloves and I'll be in the field."Team India will also be without the services of Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah for the three-match series.