KL Rahul will lead India in the three-match ODI series against the Proteas in South Africa in the absence of the injured Rohit Sharma.

Rohit’s recurring hamstring injury has ruled him out of the series with chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma explaining why they had given Rahul the captaincy.

“We are looking at KL Rahul as a three-format player, and he has got good experience of captaincy,” he said.

“He has proved his leadership qualities. That is what all selectors think.

“When Rohit is not fit, we thought KL is the best one to handle the side. We have good confidence in him, and we are grooming him.”

Ravichandran Ashwin, who last played an ODI in 2017, has returned to the 50-over squad, while Venkatesh Iyer received a maiden ODI call-up.

Deepak Chahar and Ishan Kishan have also been included in the 18-man squad, with Kuldeep Yadav, the Pandya brothers Hardik and Krunal, Thangarasu Natarajan (injured) and Shubman Gill all missing out.

India ODI squad: KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (v/c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj.