India Squad For South Africa Tests Announced, Rohit Sharma Named Captain Of The ODI Side

The Indian squad for the South Africa Test series which is all set to take place later this month has been announced by the BCCI. The two teams will be locking horns against each other in a three-match Test series, the first of which will be played on Boxing Day, i.e. from December 26th. Earlier, the tour consisted of a T20I series too, but due to the Omnicron variant, the tour was curtailed.

Notably, the India A team has been on the tour of South Africa playing a three-match Test series against South Africa A. Players of the senior Indian Cricket Team including Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari were also a part of the India A side which toured South Africa. Due to his consistent performances with the bat, Hanuma Vihari has made a comeback in the senior national side too.

India Test Squad For South Africa Announced

BCCI, on Wednesday, announced India‘s 15-member Test squad which will be travelling to South Africa for a three-match Test series later this month. The team will be led by none other than Test skipper Virat Kohli. Rohit Sharma has been named the vice-captain of the Test side.

India’s Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj.

Standby Players: Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswalla.

“The following players were not available for selection due to injuries and are currently undergoing rehabilitation: Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Rahul Chahar.”

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward,” the BCCI said in a statement.

Team India’s First Away Series In WTC Cycle 2021-23

Notably, this will be team India’s first away series win in the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23. Prior to this, the senior national team beat the Kiwis 1-0 in a two-match Test series at home. The tour comprises of 3 Test matches and 3 One Day Internationals. Currently, the Men in Blue is at the 3rd spot in the ICC World Test Championship Points Table.

The first Test of the series will be played in Centurion while the 2nd Test will take place in Johannesburg. The last and final game of the Test series will be played in Cape Town before both the teams move to Paarl for the first couple of ODIs and then return to Paarl for the final ODI of the series.