New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) Captain Rohit Sharma was on Friday ruled out of India's upcoming ODI series in South Africa due to a hamstring injury, forcing the selectors to appoint KL Rahul as skipper of an 18-member team for the white-ball leg of the tour.

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.

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Pacer Jasprit Bumrah was named as vice-captain of the team.

"Rohit is not fit, he is in rehab. We never wanted to take chance with him,' BCCI chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma said.

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"We are looking to groom KL Rahul. He has proved his leadership qualities. KL is the best one who can handle the side."

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

The Squad: 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. PTI KHS PDS

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)