IND vs SA: Chetan Sharma Explains The Reason For Not Including Rohit Sharma In South Africa ODI Series

Team India’s national chief selector Chetan Sharma explained the reason to exclude Rohit Sharma from the ODI squad against South Africa.

Rohit was ruled out from India’s Test squad in the ongoing Test series against the Proteas as he sustained a hamstring injury during a training session in Mumbai.

However, the Indian opener, who was named India’s new white-ball captain, couldn’t regain his fitness completely in a short period.

Therefore the selectors did not want to risk his injury and hence they opted him out of the series keeping in mind the tight schedule for the further year.

This was the reason to stop Rohit Sharma from these three matches: Chetan Sharma

“This is the only reason we decided that he (Rohit) goes and do his rehab, work on his fitness, work on his muscles,” Chetan Sharma said in a media conference after announcing the team for the ODI series against South Africa.

“There is so much cricket (happening). No player wishes for an injury, everybody wants to play, nobody gets injured intentionally.

“And this was the reason to stop Rohit from these three matches, that he is 100 per cent fit, there is the World Cup in front of you, there are important series in front of you, that is the reason,” he added.

We had a good chat with Rohit Sharma: Chetan Sharma

After the completion of the South Africa tour this month, India will play West Indies and Sri Lanka in various bilateral series at home until summer.

Karnataka batter KL Rahul, who was named Rohit’s deputy during the T20I series against New Zealand, will lead India in the ODI series against South Africa. Chetan Sharma said that Rohit was informed about the selection criteria.

“We had a good chat with Rohit, all selectors had a good chat with Rohit and that is the reason he is not going to South Africa and KL is the captain,” he said.

The ODI series between South Africa and India will commence on January 19 at the Boland Park in Paarl followed by the second match on January 21 in the same venue. The final ODI will be played in Cape Town on January 23.

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