"Not Sure How...": Rohit Sharma On KL Rahul 'New Role' In Test Cricket

India captain Rohit Sharma on Monday said, as a leader, he wants his team to "achieve" what others Indian sides in the past have failed to do in South Africa. Since their first Test series in South Africa in 1992, India have never achieved success there. India will play South Africa in the the first of the two Tests starting here on Tuesday. "Want to achieve what nobody has achieved in this part of the world," Rohit said during the pre-match press conference. Rohit also did not want to speak about his cricketing future, just saying that he wants to enjoy the game.

"I want to play whatever cricket is there in front of me," he said without elaborating his plans.

KL Rahul is expected to keep wickets in the first Test but the skipper said it will be is up to wicketkeeper-batter to decide how long he wants to don the gloves in the five-day format.

"I am not sure how long KL Rahul would want to keep wickets but he is keen as of now," said Rohit.

India's World Cup hero, Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the series with an ankle injury and Rohit termed the speedster's absence as a big loss.

"Shami will be a big miss for what he has done for us over the years. Someone will fill up (the) hole but it won't be easy," he said.

Squads:

South Africa:Temba Bavuma (capt), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wkt), Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Nandre Burger.

India:Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wkt), Abhimanyu Easwaran.