Batting superstar Virat Kohli has landed in MS Dhoni’s hometown, Ranchi, and on Wednesday morning (November 26) he was spotted coming out of Ranchi airport. The 37-year-old right-handed batter was named in India’s squad for the upcoming three-match series against South Africa on November 24, and on Tuesday he arrived in India from London to take part in the three 50-over matches. The first ODI of the India-South Africa series will be played at JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi on Sunday, November 30, and the next two matches are scheduled in Raipur and Visakhapatnam on December 3 and 6, respectively.
India last played an international match in Ranchi in February 2024. In the fourth Test of the home series against the English team,
India secured a win under Rohit Sharma’s leadership. But Virat Kohli was not part of India’s squad in that series due to the birth of his second child – Akaay.
#WATCH | Jharkhand: Indian cricketer Virat Kohli arrives in Ranchi ahead of the first India vs South Africa ODI match to be played on November 30 at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium. pic.twitter.com/ozsfFV0URQ
— ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2025
Kohli, who retired from T20Is on June 29, 2024, and from Test cricket on May 12, 2025, last played an ODI match for India on October 25, 2025, against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground. In that fixture, he scored an unbeaten half-century (74) and added 168 runs for the second wicket with Rohit Sharma (121*) to help India secure a win by 9 wickets over the hosts by chasing down the target of 237 runs in 38.3 overs and avoid a whitewash.
Rahul to captain India
KL Rahul will captain India in the ODI series against South Africa in the absence of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. Gill and Iyer were not available for selection due to injury-related issues. In Gill’s absence, Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the innings for the hosts, and Tilak is all set to replace Iyer as the No. 4 batter.
India’s ODI squad: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (C) (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel
