Rohit Sharma ruled out of Test series against SA with injury, Priyank Panchal named replacement

December 14, 2021

In what is a big setback for India ahead of the upcoming tour of South Africa, Indian opener Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the Test series against South Africa on Proteas soil. Sharma was in news recently as he was appointed India’s ODI captain while the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also named him as the Test vice-captain, where he replaced Ajinkya Rahane.
Rohit had done well on the tour of Australia and was expected to play a key role on the South African tour as well.
Confirming the news through an official statement, the BCCI said, “Team India Test vice-captain Rohit Sharma sustained a left hamstring injury during his training session here in Mumbai yesterday. He has been ruled out of the upcoming 3-match Test series against South Africa. Priyank Panchal will replace Rohit Sharma in the Test squad.”
It remains to be seen whether Rahane will continue as the Test vice-captain or whether the Indian board announces a new deputy for Kohli.
Sharma, one of the most prolific run-scorers in white-ball cricket in the last many years, has also been India’s top run-getter in the five-day format in 2021 – where he has 906 runs under his belt in 11 matches.
After taking over as India’s full-time captain in white-ball cricket, Sharma lauded Virat Kohli said he had a great time playing under Kohli’s captaincy.

“He’s (Kohli) put the team in the situation where there is no looking back. Those five years that he has led the team led from the front every time we stepped onto the park. And yeah! there was a clear grit and determination to win every game that was the message to the entire squad,” Rohit said in an interview posted on the BCCI website.
“We had a great time playing under him obviously we played I played a lot of cricket under him and enjoyed every moment and I will still continue to do that,” he added.
India’s squad for South Africa Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj.