India's newly crowned ODI skipper Rohit Sharma is currently nursing a hamstring injury and should he fail to recover in time for the ODI series versus South Africa, then KL Rahul can be named India's stand-in captain, as per latest reports. 

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Rohit, who is currently working at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, to regain full fitness was named ODI skipper earlier this month. The decision came after Virat Kohli announced he'd be stepping aside as T20I skipper, and even though he wanted to continue to lead India in other two formats, the selectors didn't want two separate captains in ODIs and T20 cricket, thus the announcement was made to sack Kohli as ODI skipper, and instil Rohit in his place. 

India's upcoming ODI series versus South Africa that commences from January 19 would have been his first assignment after being named permanent captain, however, prior to flying for South Africa, Rohit sustained a hamstring injury, which would rule him out of the Test series. 

The situation regarding his comeback is still dicey, given there has been no update regarding Rohit's fitness. In the aftermath of his injury, KL Rahul was named vice-captain of the Indian team for the Test series and he's got off to a flying start. 

After captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first, Rahul and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal started brilliantly and put up a century stand for the first wicket. 

While Mayank soon perished, Rahul would go on to score his seventh Test century on Sunday, sixth, away from home. He's carried over his form from Australia and England earlier this year, and that could be one reason why his name is at front if Rohit were to miss the ODIs. 

Judging from purely performance-based factors, the move does make sense, however, Indian fans would be hoping to have Rohit Sharma back in the team and firing on all cylinders.