Rohit Sharma ruled out of ODI series in SA, KL Rahul named captain of 18-member squad

Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma was on Friday ruled out of India's upcoming ODI series in South Africa due to a hamstring injury. The selectors scrambled to appoint KL Rahul the skipper of an 18-member team for the limited overs part of the tour. All-rounder Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja were also not selected as they were not fit while senior pacer Mohammed Shami, who is in the team for the ongoing Test series, was rested. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah was named as vice-captain of the team.

"Rohit is not fit, he is in rehab. We never wanted to take a chance with him," BCCI's chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma said. "We are looking to groom KL Rahul. He has proved his leadership qualities. KL is the best one who can handle the side." The three ODIs will be played at Paarl and Cape Town on January 19, 21 and 23 respectively.

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.