India’s new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma is set to lead for the first time in ODIs as the full-time captain in the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies, starting February 6 in Ahmedabad.
Rohit Sharma was appointed the ODI captain after the board sacked Virat Kohli ahead of the South Africa tour. The board believes that having one captain for both the white-ball formats was the correct choice to make; that they were forced to do so once Kohli had stepped down as the T20I captain but wished to continue leading in the ODIs.
However, Sharma missed the South Africa tour due to a hamstring injury he sustained before departure. Now, the opener is fit and set to return to the cricket field and lead the country.
It’s another special occasion for the Men In Blue: Rohit Sharma, a five-time IPL winning skipper, will captain India in the country’s 1000th ODI match. India will become the first side to play 1000 ODIs.
Rohit Sharma and the rest of the Indian team players have entered the bio-bubble in Ahmedabad, where the ODI series will be played out. On Wednesday, four days ahead of the first ODI, the newly appointed limited-overs skipper took to his Instagram to post a strong message.
Sharma posted a photo of himself from the T20I series against New Zealand in December in which he is looking up in the sky with the stunning backdrop of fans in it.
“Can’t wait to get started….” Rohit captioned the post.
Here is Rohit Sharma’s Instagram post.
View this post on Instagram
Meanwhile, young legspinner Ravi Bishnoi has been given his maiden India call-up. Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar make their returns to the national setup after injuries.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami have been rested while Ravindra Jadeja will miss both the ODI and T20I series as he continues to recover from a knee injury. There is no clear update on Hardik Pandya yet.
ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan
