Why is Shreyas Iyer not playing today’s IND vs SA 2025 ODI?

Team India's vice-captain Shreyas Iyer's name was missing from the playing XI for the ODI series opener against South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday, November 30. The right-handed batter is set to miss the whole series as he continues to recover from a rib cage injury.

Shreyas suffered the injury while taking a catch during India's final ODI of the away series against Australia last month. It resulted in a laceration of his spleen with internal bleeding, and he underwent treatment at a Sydney hospital.

India's bowling coach Morne Morkel gave an update about Iyer's injury during the pre-match press conference. He said (via NDTV):

"Shreyas has also started his rehab, which is great. So yeah, we're looking forward to welcoming them back into the squad. And the good thing is that they're (Shreyas and Shubman Gill) healthy and they're starting their preparation on their way back into the team."

India are also without captain Shubman Gill. He missed out due to a neck injury. With the captain and the vice-captain unavailable for the series, senior wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was appointed as the stand-in skipper.

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Ruturaj Gaikwad to be India's No. 4 in Shreyas Iyer's absence in IND vs SA 2025 1st ODI

India were in search of a new No. 4 as Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the three-match ODI series against South Africa. Top order batter Ruturaj Gaikwad returned to India's 50-over team after a gap of two years.

Gaikwad is expected to bat at No. 4 in India's batting lineup in Shreyas Iyer's absence. Meanwhile, South Africa won the toss and chose to field first in Ranchi.

Here are the two playing XIs for the clash:

IND: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna

SA: Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock(w), Aiden Markram(c), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Ottneil Baartman