KL Rahul to lead India in South Africa ODIs, injured Rohit misses out

New Delhi, Dec 31:  The BCCI on Friday announced the India squad for three-match ODI series against South Africa, with KL Rahul leading the 18-member side in absence of injured Rohit Sharma's absence.

The 34-year old Sharma was appointed captain of the ODI team earlier this month as he replaced Virat Kohli, who had stepped down from the role of T20I captaincy as well.

However, Rohit suffered a hamstring injury during a net session ahead of India's departure for South Africa and was ruled out of the Test series. The star batter is now doing his rehab at National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and will miss the upcoming ODI series.

Rahul, who is currently the vice-captain of the Test team in South Africa, will now lead the ODI team in absence of Rohit while pacer Jasprit Bumrah will be his deputy.

Meanwhile, the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Venkatesh Iyer, who did well in the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021, have been picked for their maiden overseas assignment.

India squad: KL Rahul (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, R Ashwin, W Sundar, J Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj