The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally announced the ODI squad of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming 3-match ODI series between India and South Africa, which is scheduled to start on January 19. The selection committee was expected to announce the ODI squad on December 26, however, the announcement kept the fans waiting due to the lack of clarity on Rohit Sharma’s fitness.
The chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma has finally announced the 18-member squad on Friday and for everyone’s dismay, Rohit Sharma, the newly appointed ODI skipper of India, will not be available for the One Day International series in South Africa. Chetan Sharma revealed that Rohit is yet to recover from his injury, with KL Rahul named as captain and Jasprit Bumrah his deputy.
Talking about the same, in a press conference, Chetan Sharma revealed: “Rohit is still not fully fit, he is in rehab. We never wanted to take a chance with him if he is not 100% fit,” He added: “We are looking to groom KL Rahul for captaincy. He has proved his leadership qualities.”
Meanwhile, off-spinner R Ashwin also made his way back to the ODI team after the 2017 Champions Trophy. While Mohammed Shami has been rested, team India will also miss the services of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw are a couple of names missing from the squad.
While Venkatesh Iyer and Washington Sundar will make a return to the squad, CSK’s superstar player Ruturaj Gaikwad could be in line for his ODI debut.
India squad for South Africa ODIs:
KL Rahul (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, 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
