India opener Rohit Sharma missed out on the entire tour of South Africa due to hamstring injury. But the new white-ball skipper is recovering well and he is likely to feature in the six-match home limited-overs series against the West Indies next month.
After sustaining a left hamstring strain, Rohit was initially ruled out of the Test series against South Africa but he failed to regain full fitness for the ODI series as well.
"Rohit's rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) is going pretty well. He is expected to be okay for the West Indies series. It's still close to three weeks from now before the first ODI is played in Ahmedabad on February 6," a BCCI source privy to developments told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
The series against the West Indies comprises three ODIs and T20Is each. The 50-over series will be played from February 6 to 12, while the T20Is will be held from February 15 to 20.
The hamstring injury has been troubling Rohit for quite some time. He missed the limited-overs series and the first two Tests on the tour of Australia in 2020-21 because of the same issue.
With Virat Kohli now quitting captaincy of the Test format as well, there is a greater need for Rohit to remain injury-free in the current set-up.
Despite his fitness and age concern, the selection committee might appoint Rohit Sharma as captain in the longest format as well.
"Rohit Sharma should be the bridge before BCCI is confident about the next young India captain that they want the team to lead for at least five years.
"This ICC World Test Championship cycle should be about giving it to an experienced hand rather than someone, whose leadership credentials aren't proven enough," a senior BCCI official told PTI.