KL Rahul will lead India in the upcoming ODI series against South Africa after Rohit Sharma was ruled out with an injury. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been named as the vice-captain. The likes of Ruturaj Gaekwad and Venkatesh Iyer were also named in the 18-member team for the white-ball leg of the tour.

Rohit Sharma, who sustained a hamstring injury during a training session in Mumbai, is in rehab, chief selector Chetan Sharma said.

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“Rohit is not fit. We never wanted to take chance with him.”

All-rounder Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja were also not selected as they were not fit while senior pacer Mohammed Shami, who is in the team for the ongoing Test series, was rested.

“We are looking to groom KL Rahul. He has proved his leadership qualities. KL is the best one who can handle the side,” Sharma added.

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Ravichandran Ashwin, after his impressive show in the T20 World Cup, has been called into the ODI fold as leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and off-spinner Washington Sundar also got a spot. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj along with Bumrah make the pace attack. 

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The three ODIs will be played at Paarl and Cape Town on January 19, 21 and 23 respectively.

India’s squad: KL Rahul (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan, Chahal, R Ashwin, W Sundar, Bumrah (VC),Bhuvneshwar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Siraj