"KL Rahul took it personally when he won Orange Cap" - Twitter reacts angrily as India again leave out Ruturaj Gaikwad

In-form batter Ruturaj Gaikwad didn't find a place in the XI even as India made four changes for the third and final ODI against South Africa on Sunday. The visitors brought in Suryakumar Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Deepak Chahar and Prasidh Krishna for Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

India captain KL Rahul won the toss and opted to field in Cape Town.

South Africa, meanwhile, made one change, bringing in Dwaine Pretorius for Tabraiz Shamsi. Wayne Parnell was unavailable due to a stomach bug, Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma said at the toss.

South Africa have won the series with a game to spare after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead.

KL Rahul insisted that India were motivated to win regardless of the situation. Speaking at the toss, he said:

"We value each game no matter the result, we want to get better as a team and the boys have motivated themselves, they're professionals. The energy has been great even in the two losses."

About the changes in the team, he said:

"We have a few plans, there are few things we need to fix and get better at."

Twitter reacts to Ruturaj Gaikwad being left out

There was disappointment on social media with Gaikwad being left on the bench again.

The youngster won the Orange Cap in the 2021 IPL and was in sparkling form in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he hit four centuries and finished as the tournament's highest run-scorer.

With KL Rahul moving up to open in Rohit Sharma's absence, the middle order has not really fired, barring a brilliant knock by Rishabh Pant in the second ODI.

Social media users asked why Gaikwad, who is yet to make his ODI debut, wasn't brought in to open alongside Shikhar Dhawan.

Here are some top reactions: