The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday (November 30) announced Team India’s squad for their next assignment, the all-format tour to South Africa, starting on December 10. KL Rahul will lead the ODI squad while SKY will lead T20I squad the in the absence of injured Hardik Pandya. Rohit Sharma will return alongside Virat Kohli to lead the Test squad.
Earlier, before the announcement, there were doubts over the availability of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the white-ball format.
Both Virat and Rohit have been out of T20I squad since the T20 World Cup last year as the focus shifted to ODIs.
Meanwhile, questions on Rohit Sharma’s white-ball future were also lingering on social media with the reports emerging that the Indian board is keen to have the Indian opener as T20I skipper till T20 World Cup 2024. But with the omission of his name from T20I squad, it looks certain that the 36-year-old is not planning to feature in the next year’s tournament.
Team India is set to play 3 T20Is, 3 ODIs and 2 Tests in a month-long tour.
India tour of South Africa Schedule:
1st T20I, Durban – 10th December
2nd T20I, Gqeberha – 12th December
3rd T20I, Johannesburg – 14th December
1st ODI, Johannesburg – 17th December
2nd ODI, Gqeberha – 19th December
3rd ODI, Paarl – 21st December
1st Test, Centurion – 26-30 December
2nd Test, Cape Town – 3-7 January (2024)
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.
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 2 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.