India squad for South Africa Tests announced; Shubman Gill replaces KL Rahul

KL Rahul was ignored, while Shubman Gill got a maiden call-up for Tests.

Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced a 15-member Indian team for the forthcoming three-match Test series against South Africa, beginning on October 2.

• Interestingly, out-of-form opener Lokesh Rahul was excluded while rookie Shubman Gill received his maiden call-up for the series.

Rahul has not been able to score runs in recent times. Even in the two-Test series against the West Indies, he managed scores of 44, 38, 13 and 6. He hasn't managed a 50+ score since his 149 against England at the Oval some twelve innings back.

BCCI chief selector M.S.K. Prasad had earlier acknowledged that Rahul's form in Tests was a cause of concern for the team and that the board might have limited-over opener Rohit Sharma to open the innings in the five-day format as well.

• Meanwhile, Gill has received his maiden Test call owing to his great run in recent times. Gill scored 90 and 5 in the first unofficial Test against South Africa A that concluded on Thursday to boost his chances.

Also, white ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who couldn't make the cut in the playing XI against the West Indies, was named in the squad and is expected to be tried out as an opener after Hanuma Vihari and Ajinkya Rahane sealed slot Nos 5 and 6 in the batting order respectively. Rohit's last Test appearance for India was in the away series against Australia in 2018.

Cheteshwar Pujara, at No.3, and skipper Virat Kohli, at No.4, automatically pick themselves.

Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant have been picked as the wicketkeepers. Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja would be the three spinners have been picked for the series, while Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma will oversee pace department.

However, pacer Umesh Yadav has been dropped from the squad that recently beat the West Indies 2-0 in the away series.

The first Test against South Africa will be played in Visakhapatnam from October 2 before the teams travel to Pune for the second Test from October 10. The final match of the series will be played in Ranchi from October 19.

India’s squad for 3 Tests: Virat Kohli (Capt), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk),Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill