BCCI postponed the Indian ODI team selection for the South Africa tour to the end of this week. BCCI may pushed the ODI team selection to get a clear picture on new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma‘s left-hamstring injury status.
Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the South African Test squad owing to a severe injury in his hamstring. Ahead of the South African tour, BCCI appoints Rohit Sharma as the new ODI skipper days after his appointment as T20I skipper replacing Virat Kohli.
BCCI Postponed SA Tour ODI Team Selection
Rohit has been doing his rehabilitation programme at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) but it could still take some time for the Indian captain to regain full fitness.
“The team selection meeting will happen after the first Test. It could be on December 30 or 31st but the BCCI is yet to take a final call. Rohit is pulling all stops to get fit but hamstring injuries are a bit different from other injuries. It has been learnt that Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are unavailable for selection. About Rohit, a call will be taken closer to the selection date,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Jadeja and Axar’s unavailability has opened the door for R Ashwin to make an ODI comeback after four years.
Earlier, the selection meeting was supposed to be held just after Hazare Trophy but it has been pushed back only to ensure that Rohit gets a chance to pass the fitness test. In case Rohit is not fit in time for the ODIs, KL Rahul will be leading India for the first time in a bilateral series.
“It could well happen that Rohit is not fit by the time of selection cut-off but then with the first ODI still three weeks away, he could get enough time to be with the team and regain full fitness closer to the date. In that case, he can be selected subject to fitness. These are things that chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma needs to check,” the official said.
Team India will play 3 matches ODI series against South Africa which kickstarts from January 19, 2022, at Boland Park, Paarl.
Virat Kohli-led team India already reached South Africa and starts their first test match where India won the toss and elected to bat first. With KL Rahul’s impressive 123 India scored 327 runs for all 10 wickets loss.
