The year 2021 has been a special year for KKR and it turned a tad more special on the last day of the year as Venkatesh Iyer got included in the India ODI squad that plays South Africa in a three-match series from January 19.

Iyer made his international debut against New Zealand last month in Jaipur in the T20 series. The inclusion in the ODI squad came on the back of Iyer's remarkable form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy recently.

As per a BCCI release, the 18-member squad would be led by KL Rahul in absence of Rohit Sharma, who has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury. Jasprit Bumrah will be assisting the team as the vice-captain.

Besides Rohit, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel have been rested too as they are still recovering from injuries.

Ravichandran Ashwin made a comeback to bolster the spin department while the pace attack will be spearheaded by the likes of Prasidh Krishna, Bumrah, Md Siraj and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Team: KL Rahul (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, R Ashwin, W Sundar, J Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar,Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj