India name squads for South Africa tour; KL Rahul to lead in ODIs, Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is

India have announced their squads for the multi-format South Africa series, comprising three ODIs, as many T20Is and two Tests. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are missing from the white-ball squads, with the BCCI confirming that the duo "had requested the Board for a break from the white-ball leg of the tour." Furthermore, Mohammed Shami, fresh from a chart-topping show in India's runners-up finish at the ODI World Cup, is "currently undergoing medical treatment and his availability is subject to fitness", the board confirmed.

KL Rahul will lead in the ODIs, while Suryakumar Yadav's run as the T20I skipper has been extended after being handed the role for the home T20Is against Australia in Hardik Pandya's ankle-injury-enforced absence. The 17-member T20I squad wears a familiar look to the one currently in action at home, with the only exception of Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan and Prasidh Krishna, all of whom have paved the way for Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav - all four were rested for the Australia series following the home World Cup. Jadeja has been named Suryakumar's deputy.

As for the ODI setup, with no major 50-over tournament scheduled until the 2025 Champions Trophy, India have rejigged the lineup extensively, offering maiden call-ups to promising youngsters Sai Sudharsan and Rinku Singh, with Gill, Suryakumar and Ishan Kishan rested. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal, two of the most notable omissions from India's World Cup squad, have been included. This means the famed spin duo of Kuldeep and Chahal will have another shot at an ODI reunion, having played in the same XI only thrice since the 2019 ODI World Cup. 

Also returning to the ODI team is Rajat Patidar, who incidentally received his maiden ODI call-up for a series against the same opponents at home last year, however, he is still uncapped. Deepak Chahar, a late addition to the team for the Australia series, has been picked in both white-ball squads. While they both missed out on the T20I squad, Axar and Avesh have been named in the 50-overs team.

India’s T20I squad: 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, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar

India’s ODI squad: 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

Rohit Sharma to lead Test team

Having opted out of the white-ball leg of the series, Rohit and Kohli will feature in the two Tests, as would Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah, who has been named Rohit's deputy, last played an international red-ball game in 2022, the rescheduled fifth Test in Birmingham, which India lost to England by seven wickets. A vexatiously recurring back injury kept him out of the reckoning, however, his return means India will fancy unleashing the potent troika of Bumrah, Siraj and Shami against the Proteas. 

Veteran Ajinkya Rahane, who was a part of India's World Test Championship final squad earlier this year, has been dropped, with Iyer and Rahul returning to the fold. Iyer, with a recurring back issue of his own, had missed the Ahmedabad Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year before being ruled out of the IPL and WTC final due to the same reason. While that had opened the doors for Rahane, the first-choice player's return means he had to cop the axe even though he was India's vice-captain on the West Indies tour in July this year.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who struck a century on Test debut in the abovementioned series in West Indies, has retained his spot. Ruturaj Gaikwad is the backup opener while Kishan the backup wicketkeeper. Only Iyer, Ruturaj and Mukesh Kumar have been picked in all three squads. 

India’s Test squad: 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, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna

KS Bharat to lead India A in four-dayers

KS Bharat, who played the WTC final before spending time on the bench during the Carribean tour, is not a part of the main squad. However, he will lead the A team in the two four-day games, scheduled from December 11 to 14 and December 26 to 29, before the commencement of the Test series. The squad for the domestic games includes some of the top talents, with the selectors having picked the likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, Sudharsan, Tilak and Dhruv Jurel. 

Abhimanyu Easwaran, the prolific run-scorer from Bengal, has been included subjected to fitness while the likes of pace all-rounder Harshit Rana, seamers Vidwath Kaverappa, Akash Deep, Tushar Deshpande and left-arm spinners Sourabh Kumar and Manav Suthar have been selected too.

India A squad for the first four-day match: Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Devdutt Padikkal, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Sarfaraz Khan, KS Bharat (C)(wk), Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, Pulkit Narang, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Tushar Deshpande

India A squad for the second four-day match: Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KS Bharat (C)(wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Navdeep Saini

The Indian team will also play a three-day inter-squad game sandwiched between the two four-day encounters, from December 20 to 22.

India squad for inter-squad three-day match: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pulkit Narang, Harshit Rana, Shardul Thakur, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini

India's tour of South Africa 2023-24 Fixtures

India's tour will commence with the first T20I in Durban on December 10, followed by the second and third games in Gqeberha and Johannesburg on December 12 and 14. Johannesburg will also host the ODI series opener on December 17 before the second and third ODIs in Gqeberha and Paarl on December 19 and 21. 

Centurion will host the Boxing Day affair from December 26 to 30 before the teams fly to Cape Town for the New Year's Test from January 3 to 7. The upcoming one will be India's second assignment in the 2023-25 WTC cycle, after the two-Test series in the Caribbean in July, which they won 2-0. 

India A tour of South Africa 2023