Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) senior men’s selection committee has picked India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. ODI and Test skipper Shubman Gill and all-rounder Hardik Pandya are set to mark their return from injuries, but the former’s participation is subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI CoE (Centre of Excellence).
Gill sustained a neck injury during the first Test between the two sides in Kolkata and was subsequently ruled out of the red-ball games as well as the ODI series.
Pandya, meanwhile, picked up an injury during India’s Asia Cup Super Fours contest against Sri Lanka and has been out of the international setup since then.
The fifth T20I, to be played on December 19, will also mark the end of South Africa’s tour of India, which commenced on November 14 with a two-game Test series and was followed by the ongoing ODI series.
Regular skipper Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead the side, with Gill as his deputy. Most of the T20I squad remains the same as to the contingent that travelled to Australia for India’s most recent T20I series. However, Rinki Singh, who didn’t get much of a chance in the previous tour, has been dropped.
The T20I series will commence on December 9 in Cuttack, with action moving to New Chandigarh for the second T20I on December 11. The second T20I will also see two new stands being inaugurated by the Punjab Cricket Association at the venue in honour of India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.
The third T20I will be hosted by the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, while the fourth game will be played at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. South Africa’s tour of India will conclude at the world’s largest ground – the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Indian team is currently involved in a three-game ODI series against the Proteas and lead them 1-0.
India squad for T20I series against SA: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC)*, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar
(IANS)
