Rohit Sharma was on Wednesday appointed as the captain of Team India for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa.
Meanwhile, Rohit was also promoted to the role of the vice captain for India’s Test team.
The development came as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced a 18-member squad, to be led by Virat Kohli, for the upcoming Test series in South Africa.
On the other hand, ace all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja misses a place in the Test squad along with Shubman Gill, Axar Patel and Rahul Chahar as all of them are injured and are currently undergoing rehabilitation.
Issuing a statement, the board announced: “The following players were not available for selection due to injuries and are currently undergoing rehabilitation: Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Rahul Chahar.”
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward,” it added.
Notably, India will play three-Test series in Centurion, Johannesburg and Cape Town on their tour of South Africa which will begin on December 26 after being delayed for a week due to the sudden threat of new Covid-19 variant – Omnicron – in the host country.
Earlier on Monday, Cricket South Africa (CSA), the governing body for the sport of cricket in South Africa, had announced the updated schedule of the Indian men’s cricket team’s upcoming tour of South Africa.
Notably, the spread of a new variant of Covid-19 in the African nation had raised doubts over the upcoming tour however, the Ministry of International relations and Cooperation of South Africa had given full assurance to the Indian government and the BCCI regarding the safety of Indian players.
The Ministry had said that the touring side would be provided the best “bio-secure environment” to ensure the safety of players from the fast-spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Significantly, the Omicron variant, which was reportedly first detected in South Africa, has spread to many parts of the world with several nations now suspending flights to and from the country.
India’s Test squad:
Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj.
Standby Players: Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswalla.
India tour of South Africa 2021-22 schedule:
1st Test (December 26-30): Centurion
2nd Test (January 03-07): Johannesburg
3rd Test (January 11-15): Cape Town
1st ODI (January 19): Paarl
2nd ODI (January 21): Paarl
3rd ODI (January 23): Cape Town