India’s two senior-most batters, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have opted out of the limited overs leg of the upcoming tour of South Africa but will rejoin the squad for the two-Test series against the Proteas. India will tour the Rainbow Nation for three T20Is and as many ODIs before playing two Tests, the first of which starts on Boxing Day (December 26) in Centurion.
With World Test Championship points on the line, the Ajit Agarkar-led senior selection committee picked a full-strength squad for the longest format. South Africa remains the final frontier for the Indian team as they are yet to win a Test series in the country. A win against the Proteas on their home soil will bolster India’s chances of making a third successive appearance in the World Test Championship final.
As such the selectors put special emphasis on the red-ball team, and included the likes of Yashavi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan and pacer Mukesh Kumar in the Test squad, with Rohit returning to lead the side, and Virat, back in action after almost a month.
Ravichandran Ashwin will lead India’s spin attack in the company of Ravindra Jadeja, while the pace department will see the reunion of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna for the first time since the World Cup. Shami’s availability will, however, be subject to fitness.
“Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had requested the Board for a break from the white-ball leg of the tour. Mohd. Shami is currently undergoing medical treatment and his availability is subject to fitness,” the BCCI statement read.
The selectors also picked a number of fresh faces in the limited overs sides, with Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar finding themselves in the 16-member ODI squad that also marks the return of wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal after being on the sidelines for a considerable period. The team for the three 50-over games will be led by KL Rahul.
The squad for the three-match T20I series is identical to the one currently in action against Australia, barring the likes of Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Jitesh Sharma. Suryakumar yadav will continue to lead the T20I side while Jadeja will serve as his deputy.
The selection committee also named the India A squads for the three warm-up games, considered a precursor to the Test matches, with Kohli returning to action in the second three-day match. A number of fresh faces have been selected in the squads for the three games, with the first and the third being four-day games while the second one is an inter-India three-day match.
The Indian team will begin the tour with the three T20Is, starting on December 10 in Durban before moving to Gqeberha for the second match on December 12, while the third T20I will be played on December 14 in Johannesburg, which also hosts the first ODI three days later on December 17.
The second match of the ODI series will be played at Gqeberha on December 19 before the teams head to Paarl for the final white ball game on December 21.
India will then head to Centurion to play the first Test from December 26 to 30 before wrapping up the tour with the second Test from January 3-7 in Cape Town.
India’s squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
India’s squad for 3 T20Is: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar.
India A squad for the 1st four-day match: Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Devdutt Padikkal, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Sarfaraz Khan, KS Bharat (C)(wk), Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, Pulkit Narang, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Tushar Deshpande.
India Inter-squad three-day match: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pulkit Narang, Harshit Rana, Shardul Thakur, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini.
India A squad for 3rd four-day match: Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KS Bharat (C)(wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Navdeep Saini.