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As many as six players who were picked for Bangladesh series last month are missing from the 15-member squad picked for four-match T20I series against South Africa.
Complete list of changes in Team India for T20I series against South Africa from Bangladesh series. (Picture Credit: AFP, Sportzpics)
Indian men’s cricket team will face South Africa in a four-match T20I series that starts on November 8 in Durban. The BCCI announced India’s 15-member squad for the shortest format series last month, and Suryakumar Yadav, who led the 2024 T20 World Cup winners to 3-0 over Bangladesh in front of home fans in October, has been retained as captain. As many as 10 players from the Bangladesh series have travelled to South Africa for the two-week-long tour, which will also see India play matches in Gqeberha, Centurion, and Johannesburg.
Ahead of the start of the T20I series, here’s a look at changes in India’s T20I squad for the South Africa tour from the last series played against Bangladesh:
Out: Star pacer Mayank Yadav, who made his T20I debut in the last series against Bangladesh and played all three matches, is not part of the series against South Africa. The 22-year-old right-arm pacer is dealing with injury-related issues, which is why he was not considered for selection. Assam all-rounder Riyan Parag was also unavailable for selection and is currently at the BCCI Centre of Excellence for long-term resolution of his chronic right shoulder injury. Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube, who was picked for Bangladesh T20Is but later was replaced by Tilak Varma, was also left out due to injury.
Andhra all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, Delhi-based pacer Harshit Rana, and Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar also played in Bangladesh series but were ignored for the tour of South Africa after they were named in India’s Test squad for the upcoming five-match series against Australia.
In: Axar Patel and Avesh Khan are back in India’s T20I team for the upcoming four-match series. Axar, who scored 46 runs and picked up one wicket in the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa, was rested for the Bangladesh series last month. His last T20I appearance for India was against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on July 28, 2024, whereas Avesh hasn’t played a T20I match for the Men in Blue since July 10, 2024.
KKR all-rounder Ramandeep Singh and RCB pacers Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak are also part of the Indian team for the South Africa T20Is. They are picked in the T20I team for the first time in their careers and will hope to make India debut in the upcoming four matches.
Dayal has earned India call-ups for the ODI and Test teams in the past but didn’t get a chance to play, whereas Ramandeep and Vyshak will join the Indian team for the first time in their careers.
India’s squad for T20I series against South Africa: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.
