India ODI Team Selection – IND vs SA LIVE: Rohit Sharma’s fitness is the biggest question in front of the Indian selectors as they pick India’s ODI team for South Africa. Rohit had shown a good progress in the prelim test last week – but his availability is still dependent on his FINAL FITNESS TEST – Follow LIVE Updates of India Tour of South Africa on InsideSport.IN
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“The team selection meeting will happen after the first Test. It could be either today or tomorrow. Rohit is pulling all stops to get fit. Let’s see how he performs in the fitness test” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport conditions of anonymity.
Will Rohit Sharma be fit? 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.
Earlier, the selection meeting was supposed to be held just after Vijay Hazare Trophy but it got 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,” one of the top BCCI official was quoted by PTI on Tuesday.
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Meanwhile both Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel will stay unavailable for selections. Both were declared injured before the test series & are yet to recover completely. The duo’s unavailability has opened the door for R Ashwin to make an ODI comeback after four years.
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“It has been learnt that Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are unavailable for selection” said the BCCI official.
India ODI Team Selection – Who will make the cut? As of now, Venkatesh Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad are the two youngsters who will be part of the ODI squad on the basis of their performance in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
But all of a sudden Rishi Dhawan’s name has started ringing the bells in selectors minds. The hero of Himachal Pradesh’s victory in Vijay Hazare Trophy has pegged Rishi Dhawan as a worthy challenger to Venkatesh Iyer.
M Shahrukh Khan’s name, who has impressed one and all as a finisher during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, might come up for discussion.
It needs to be seen whether selectors pick him for this tour or keep him ready for the home series against Sri Lanka and West Indies as a T20 option.
Shikhar Dhawan, the veteran opener despite his poor run of form in the domestic event, might be retained.
India ODI Squad SA: It’s Rishi Dhawan vs Venkatesh Iyer for place in India’s ODI squad for South Africa, who will selectors pick?
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Editors pick
