IND vs SA 2022: Why Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are not playing in the series

India have rested regular captain Rohit Sharma, ace batter Virat Kohli, and fast-bowling leader Jaspirt Bumrah, among other players for the five T20I home series against South Africa that begins on Thursday at Delhi's Arjun Jaitley Stadium.

These all-format players and other Test-specialists will travel to England to play the final match of the five-Test series that was postponed due to the COVID-19 scare in August last year.

Rohit, Kohli, and Bumrah have shared an immense workload of late and would need such an occasional refresher in a T20 World Cup year.

Interestingly, all three senior players struggled in the first half of IPL 2022. While they put in some good performances in the second half, they would have surely loved a more consistent season.

This break should help them clear their heads and mentally adjust themselves to playing the longest format in tough conditions.

Three players who were originally part of the T20I squad against the Proteas - KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer - will join the Test team soon after this series. Rahul, perhaps another player who deserved a break, was selected as the captain for the five-match T20Is against South Africa, but suffered a right groin injury and has been ruled out of the series.

Pant will lead the team in his absence with the latest IPL-winning captain Hardik Pandya filling in as his deputy. This will be the young wicketkeeper-batter's first match as India captain. Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also been sidelined after suffering a blow to his right hand while batting in the nets in Delhi.

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India's playing 11 without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Playing 11: Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk/c), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Avesh Khan.

South African skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to bowl first. You can catch all the live action here.