It’s time for the last away tour of the India Cricket Team in 2023. With the ODI World Cup over, the focus shifts to T20 World Cup 2024. The month-long India Tour of South Africa (IND vs SA) begins with a three-match T20 series on December 10. In Delhi, the selection committee met with coach Rahul Dravid as well as Rohit Sharma. And the decision is out. Both Rohit and Virat will be on break from ODIs and T20Is in the lead-up to T20 World Cup 2024. Also, with Hardik Pandya still unfit, Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead the T20I side. KL Rahul will lead India in ODIs.
IND vs SA Squad Highlights
- No Virat and Rohit Sharma in T20Is as exile continues.
- KL Rahul will lead India as focus turns to T20s
- Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal return to ODIs but both miss T20Is.
- Rinku Singh gets maiden call-up to ODIs.
- No Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara in Tests.
- Ruturaj Gaikwad is picked for all three formats along with Mukesh Kumar.
- Sai Sudharsan and Rajat Patidar picked for ODIs.
- Shreyas Iyer returns to Tests along with KL Rahul.
- KL Rahul named wicket-keeper for Tests.
Rohit-Virat white-ball future
ODIs are not in focus and with that both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be on an extended break. Both will miss the white-ball series as they are not named in the India squad for South Africa tour. Both will only rejoin the squad for tour matches ahead of for the Test series.
Both Virat and Rohit have been out of T20I squad since the T20 World Cup last year as the focus shifted to ODIs. But that is likely to continue as the selection committee will only have six T20Is left before the T20 World Cup 2024 in June.
IND vs SA T20 series
With Hardik Pandya ruled out, selectors have appointed Suryakumar Yadav as the captain. The World No 1 T20 batter hasn’t had a rest will be on a break from the ODIs.
The rest of the T20 squad is similar to the one against Australia. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj will miss both ODIs and T20Is.
KL Rahul is also a big name who will miss the T20 series. Like Rohit and Kohli, Rahul is on a T20I exile. But with the T20 World Cup 2024 preparations on, Rahul could be given a go. And if he does come back, he could also be up for captaincy once again.
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.
Team India’s complete itinerary is as below:
| IND vs SA Series | |||
| Day | Date | Match | Venue |
| Sunday | 10-Dec-23 | 1st T20I | Durban |
| Tuesday | 12-Dec-23 | 2nd T20I | Gqeberha |
| Thursday | 14-Dec-23 | 3rd T20I | Johannesburg |
| Sunday | 17-Dec-23 | 1st ODI | Johannesburg |
| Tuesday | 19-Dec-23 | 2nd ODI | Gqeberha |
| Thursday | 21-Dec-23 | 3rd ODI | Paarl |
| Tuesday | 26-Dec-23 to 30-Dec-23 | 1st Test | Centurion |
| Wednesday | 03-Jan-24 to 07-Jan-24 | 2nd Test | Cape Town |
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