Why Rohit Sharma is not playing IND vs SA T20I series?

Indian captain Rohit Sharma has taken a rest from the white-ball leg of the tour of South Africa. He will, thus, not feature in the remaining two T20Is in Gqeberha and Johannesburg on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. The first match was washed out.

Rohit led India at the 2023 World Cup and played almost every ODI in 2023. The three T20Is and the three ODIs (to be played between December 17 and 21) were a good chance for him to manage his workload. He'll be back leading the side for the two Tests between December 26 and January 7.

More than workload management though, his absence from the T20I side has become a question of competence. The right-handed batter's form in the IPL has been underwhelming for the past few years and he hasn't played a T20I in over a year.

Although he re-invented his game into a more aggressive mold for the ODI World Cup, some younger players have been in fine form in the IPL and T20Is.

Still, some recent reports said Rohit would come back to lead in the 2024 T20 World Cup. BCCI secretary Jay Shah, though, kept tight-lipped about the issue.

"What is the need to have clarity right now? It (T20 World Cup) is starting in June. We have the IPL before that and also the series against Afghanistan," PTI quoted Shah as saying.

The 2024 T20 World Cup will be jointly hosted by the West Indies and the USA.

Who has replaced Rohit Sharma in India's playing 11 for the India-South Africa T20Is?

All-rounder Hardik Pandya managed the T20I team between the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 World Cup.

However, he injured his foot during the latter competition and hasn't played since. In his absence, the top-ranked men's T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav has taken up the job.

As for opening, India have chosen the left-right combination of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill to do the job for now. It's a combination we might see in the 2024 T20 World Cup as well if Rohit continues to be out of the T20 team.