Krunal Pandya denied India recall by Gautam Gambhir for South Africa T20Is after Axar Patel gets ruled out

Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has denied yet another opportunity to Krunal Pandya to represent the country despite the opportunity arising in the ongoing five-match T20I series. The spin-bowling all-rounder Krunal Pandya had a remarkable IPL 2025 season with the RCB.

Pandya continued his form for Baroda in domestic cricket, yet Gautam Gambhir didn’t hand the all-rounder an India recall. Actually, Axar Patel was ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against South Africa due to illness, and Pandy would have been the perfect replacement.

Gautam Gambhir overlooks Krunal Pandya again, despite Axar Patel's injury opening the door

Both Krunal Pandya and Axar are slow left-arm orthodox spinners, and they are known for their handy batting at the lower order. Yet, the Indian selectors and Gautam Gambhir have moved Bengal all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed to replace Axar in India’s T20I squad.

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Axar was part of the playing XI in the first two T20Is but did not feature in the third match in Dharamshala, allowing Kuldeep Yadav to play his role in India’s seven-wicket win over South Africa in the third T20I. Meanwhile, Patel has travelled with the squad to Lucknow, where the fourth T20I will be played on Wednesday, December 17.

Axar Patel ruled out of Proteas T20Is with illness

The BCCI stated in an official media release: “Team India all-rounder Axar Patel has been ruled out of the remaining two IDFC First Bank T20Is against South Africa due to illness. However, he is with the team in Lucknow, where he will be further medically assessed.”

Before falling sick, Axar had a mixed outing against South Africa. In the first T20I match at Cuttack, he played an important role in India’s win by scoring 23 off 21 balls and delivering a superb bowling spell of 2 for 7. In the second T20I at Mullanpur, he picked up one wicket for 27 runs in three overs. However, he could manage only 21 runs off 21 balls in the second T20I.

India make a surprise call as Shahbaz Ahmed named as Axar Patel's replacement

Now, Shahbaz Ahmed has been brought in as a like-for-like replacement despite his form in domestic cricket not being outstanding. The BCCI stated, “The Men’s Selection Committee has named Shahbaz Ahmed as Axar Patel’s replacement for the T20Is in Lucknow and Ahmedabad.”

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The 31-year-old spin-bowling all-rounder has represented India in five international matches so far, including three ODIs and two T20Is. The left-arm spinner’s last T20I appearance was in 2023, while his most recent outing in Indian colors was during the Asian Games in October 2023.

Shahbaz has scored 60 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 133.33, and he has taken four wickets at an economy rate of 8.25 for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025. Despite this, Gautam Gambhir has shown faith in the Bengal left-arm spinner over proven match-winner Krunal Pandya, who played key role in RCB's maiden title triumph in June 2025.

Here’s India’s updated squad for the last two T20Is against South Africa:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, and Shahbaz Ahmed.

After the fourth T20I in Lucknow, both teams will head to Ahmedabad for the fifth and final match of the T20I series. India is currently leading the T20I series 2-1, and now Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav will be hoping to seal another series.