India batsman Rohit Sharma has been ruled of the three Tests in South Africa due to a hamstring injury he suffered while training, the country’s cricket board said. Rohit, who has replaced Virat Kohli as the national limited-overs skipper, was earlier named vice-captain of the Test squad scheduled to begin the series on Dec.26 in Centurion. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said Rohit “sustained a left hamstring injury” during his training session in Mumbai on Sunday. Uncapped opener Priyank Panchal, who recently led India A in a Test series in South Africa, will replace Rohit in the Test team led by Kohli.

Rohit was last week named the new ODI skipper as he completed the white-ball captaincy takeover from Kohli who stood down from the T20 job and then sacked from the 50-over format leadership. Even before India’s tour of South Africa started, India has been dealt a deafening blow with their vice-captain, Rohit Sharma being ruled out of the Test series. Priyank Panchal, the man who played an instrumental role in shaping the fortunes of India A against South Africa was announced as the replacement. There hasn’t been any decision made on the selection of the vice-captain.

It has been clarified that Rohit Sharma who was practicing at the Bandra Kurla complex in Mumbai for the last one week has suffered an injury during those practice sessions. No clarity has been shared whether he will be a part of the India South Africa ODI series where he was supposed to lead the team. Even though news of his injury is still to accentuate, it is said that the injury is quite grave in nature and will take time to heal.

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Rohit has been ruled out of the South Africa Test series

An official announcement will be made regarding Rohit Sharma shortly but going by the reports of Cricbuzz, it is said that Sharma has copped a severe blow that will keep him on the sidelines for the upcoming Test series. India Test captain Virat Kohli has not put in any formal request for a break from the ODI leg of the upcoming South Africa tour, a top BCCI official has asserted. Kohli will be leading India in a three-Test series starting December 26 in Centurion and the series ends on January 15 in Cape Town with the third and final Test. The three-match ODI series will kick off on January 19.

After vice-captain Rohit Sharma was ruled out due to the recurrence of a left hamstring injury, reports have emerged that Kohli will take a break to spend some time with his young family. “As of now, Kohli hasn’t sent any formal request to skip the ODIs to either BCCI president Sourav Ganguly or secretary Jay Shah. If something is decided at a later date or God forbid, he sustains an injury, then it’s a different matter,” a senior BCCI official privy to developments told PTI on conditions of anonymity. “As things stand today, he is playing the three ODIs on January 19, 21, 23,” he added.

The official also said that all the players’ families are also travelling to South Africa aboard the same charter flight due to the bio-bubble restrictions. “The skipper is traveling with his family. But yes, if he feels bubble fatigue after the Test series and wants to take a break, he would definitely inform the chairman of selectors and secretary (Shah), who is the convenor of the selection committee,” the source added. Rohit was also not a part of the New Zealand series as he was said to be given rest because of workload issues and now not being a part of the upcoming Test series will see him being out of red-ball action for a while.

This wasn’t the end of woes for India as the latest sources quote that Virat Kohli will most likely not be available for the upcoming ODI series. Even though an official confirmation is still to come, multiple sources have been hinting at Kohli not being a part of the tour. However, BCCI has confirmed that Kohli has not yet requested for a break officially. India will play South Africa in three ODI matches starting January 19.