Hyderabad: Star batter Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team for the two Test match series against South Africa to be played in the Rainbow Nation. The national selectors met in New Delhi on Thursday to pick Team India’s squad for the upcoming all-format tour of South Africa. The Indian team will participate in three T20Is, three ODIs and two Test matches.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who feature in the Test squad, however do not feature in the T20 squad, which is led by Mumbaikar Suryakumar Yadav, as they had requested a break. Surya, a prolific batter, made his captaincy debut in the ongoing 5 match T20 series against Australia, which the Men in Blue are leading 2-1.
The BCCI announced the squads through a media statement on late Thursday evening. The BCCI stated that Rohit Sharma and Mr Virat Kohli had requested the Board for a break from the white-ball leg of the tour. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will be the vice captain of the team for the two Test series.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also do not find a place in the ODI squad that will be led by Karnataka batter KL Rahul as they had asked for a break in the 50 over format too. Kerala batter Sanju Samson, who was snubbed for the ongoing T20 series against Australia, finds a place in the ODI squad. India begin the tour with a three match T20 series, the first match of which will be played in Durban.
The two Tests will be played at Centurion and Cape Town. The BCCI also informed that pacer Mohammed Shami is currently undergoing medical treatment and his availability is subject to fitness and Abhimanyu Easwaran’s availability is subject to fitness. The India A team is also touring South Africa and will take on South Africa A.
Squads:
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.