Chetan Sharma spills the beans on whether BCCI is worried about Rohit Sharma's fitness

Chetan Sharma, Team India's chief selector, addressed why newly-appointed white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma was not selected for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa on Friday. Chetan told the media after the squad was announced that the main reason Rohit was not picked for the three-match ODI series was that the selectors thought it would be beneficial for the Mumbai player to continue his rehab and keep working on his fitness, as another World Cup is coming up next year.

Chetan said the selectors believed it would be good for Rohit to take a rest for the series against South Africa as there are important series coming up as well. Chetan stated that the selectors had a good chat with Rohit before the announcement of the squad and explained to him why he was not picked for the series. Rohit is currently recovering from an injury at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. 

KL Rahul named captain of ODI squad

The selectors on Friday named KL Rahul as captain for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa. Meanwhile, pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been named the vice-captain of the 18-member squad, which also marks the return of Shikhar Dhawan and Yuzvendran Chahal into the mix. Ruturaj Gaekwad and Venkatesh Iyer have also received their maiden ODI call-up for the ODI series. Washington Sundar also returns to international cricketer after a long hiatus due to an injury. 

Mohammed Shami, who is part of the ongoing Test series against the Proteas, has been rested for the ODI clash. Ishan Kishan has been named as the backup wicketkeeper to cover Rishabh Pant in case of an injury. Suryakumar Yadav has been awarded for his good form in domestic competitions with another call-up to the ODI squad. This will be Virat Kohli's first white-ball series as a regular player and not captain, in more than five years.   

India's squad for ODI series: 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. 

Image: PTI/Twitter/ChetanSharma