After Rohit Sharma was ruled out from the three-match one-day series against South Africa, KL Rahul has been given the command to lead the 18-members squad of team India, announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday, 31st December.
After Rohit Sharma set to miss the three-match ODI series against the Proteas, KL Rahul has been given the command to lead the 18-members squad of team India for the one-day Internationals, announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday, 31st December.
India squad: KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj
Rohit Sharma who is going through a hamstring injury and was ruled from the ongoing Test series against South Africa is also not added among the members of the ODIs squad.
KL Rahul will be leading India from the front and the pacer Jasprit Bumrah will be his deputy.
“We are looking at KL Rahul as a three-format player, and he has got good experience of captaincy,”
Chetan Sharma, the BCCI chief selector, said.
“He has proved his leadership qualities. That is what all selectors think. When Rohit is not fit, we thought KL is the best one to handle the side. We have good confidence in him, and we are grooming him.”
As reported by the sources earlier, the veteran off-spinner Ravichandaran Ashwin, who played his last ODI in 2017, has been recalled to join the squad for the three-match one-day series against South Africa which is set to begin on January 19.
Ashwin in his ODI career, has picked 150 wickets in 111 matches, had recently marked his comeback in the shortest format setup of the 2021 T20 World Cup following by impressive performances in the Indian Premier League 2021.
The squad has a couple of young players who have impressed in the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy, with the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, and Venkatesh Iyer making into the squad.
Chetan Sharma also stated that other excellent performances of the tournament included the payers who were considered for selection; Shahrukh Khan, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, and Rishi Dhawan.
Only three spinners were considered in the 18-man list, while as many wicket-keeping options are also available – with KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Ishan Kishan to take the gloves.
Right-arm pacer Mohammed Shami has been rested as a part of his workload management while all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were unavailable for selection due to their respective injuries.