The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squads for the upcoming South Africa tour, revealing that Captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be absent from the white-ball series. KL Rahul is set to lead the Indian team in ODIs, while Suryakumar Yadav will captain the T20I side. The Test squad will see Rohit Sharma at the helm, with Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and others making up the formidable lineup.
India's tour of South Africa comprises three T20Is, three ODIs, and two Test matches. The T20I series is scheduled to commence on December 10, with the Tests following suit. The Board also confirmed that India A will participate in two four-day matches against South Africa A and one inter-squad three-day match during the tour.
Mohammed Shami has been included in the Test squad but his availability is subject to fitness. "Mr Rohit Sharma and Mr Virat Kohli had requested the Board for a break from the white-ball leg of the tour. Mr Mohd. Shami is currently undergoing medical treatment and his availability is subject to fitness," the Indian cricket board said. Sanju Samson has returned to the ODI squad named by the BCCI's selection panel led by Ajit Agarkar.
Test Squad:
Captain: Rohit Sharma
Players: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Prasidh Krishna.
T20I Squad:
Captain: Suryakumar Yadav
Players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
ODI Squad:
Captain: KL Rahul
Players: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (captain and wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), 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.
Tour Schedule:
The tour will begin with a three-match T20I series on December 10. The first T20I will be played in Durban, with subsequent matches in Gqeberha on December 12 and Johannesburg on December 14. The first match of the ODI series will be played on December 17 in Johannesburg.
Following that, the teams will play matches in Gqeberha on December 19 and Paarl on December 21. The tour will finish with the Freedom Series for the Gandhi-Mandela Trophy, a much-anticipated Test series. The first Test will be contested in Centurion from December 26 to December 30, followed by the second Test in Cape Town from January 3 to January 7.
