Rohit Sharma has replaced Virat Kohli as India's ODI captain, just weeks after taking over the position in the T20 format as well.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the appointment on Wednesday evening, stating that the decision had been made by the board's men's Selection Committee.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward," the BCCI said in the statement.
Rohit has also been named the Test team's vice-captain with Ajinkya Rahane not a certainty in the playing XI in South Africa. Rahane though has been selected in the 18-man squad announced by the selectors for the South Africa tour later this year.
Virat Displaced
While Virat Kohli had stepped down from the T20I skipper's role a few months back, in the note to posted to announce the move, he had stated that he was 'fully ready to lead Indian team in Test and ODI cricket'. However, it seems that decision has been taken out of his hands with Rohit being made India's full-time limited-overs captain.
“Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for last five to six years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” Virat had written in his statement shared on social media on 16 September.
Squad For Test Series
The 3-match Test series against South Africa starts on 26 December and will be part of the new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship.
While Rohit has replaced Ajinkya Rahane as the vice-captain, Rahane has retained his spot in the 18-man squad.
The press release also added that Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Axar Patel and Rahul Chahar were not available for selection due to injuries and are currently undergoing rehabilitation. In absence of left-arm spinners Jadeja and Axar, Jayant Yadav has managed to hold onto his spot as the second spinner behind R Ashwin having played in Mumbai against New Zealand recently.
Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who were rested for the New Zealand series at home, return to lead the pace attack, which also has Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur. Ishant Sharma.
Suryakumar Yadav, who was in the Test squad for the last two assignments without getting a game, didn't find a place in the suad. KS Bharat, who had filled in for the rested Rishabh Pant against New Zealand, has also been left out with the Delhi wicketkeeper-batsman making a return. KL Rahul, who was ruled out of the New Zealand Tests, is back alongside Shardul Thakur.
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.
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