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Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 18-member Test squad for the upcoming Test series against South Africa and the most crucial takeaway of the team selection surely is Ajinkya Rahane’s removal from the position of vice-captain.
Virat Kohli’s men need no reminder about the importance of the South Africa Test series as the Indian team is yet to win a Test series against the Proteas on South Afrcian soil. Rohit Sharma will be the new vice-captain of the Indian side. Sharma’s new responsibilities only indicate more trouble for Ajinkya Rahane. On the other hand, he has also been named as India's ODI captain making him the team's captain in white-ball cricket.
Rahane has already faced severe criticism because of his abysmal form. In his last six Test innings Rahane failed to even score a single half-century. His last Test half-century came against England at Lord’s in August 2021. Moreover, Rahane has been without a Test century in 2021 as his last Test century came back in December 2020 against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Rohit and KL Rahul will be the opening pair for the Indian side. Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Kohli will come to bat at number three and four respectively. Hanuma Vihari makes a comeback after scoring three consecutive half-centuries in the ongoing India A's tour of South Africa A. Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the Test series because of his injured right forearm. Shubhman Gill too misses out due to his resurfaced shin injury.
Wriddhiman Saha did exhibit a good show with the bat and behind the stumps as well but Rishabh Pant still remains the first choice keeper for the Indian team. Shreyas Iyer’s good form including a record-breaking century on Test debut has earned him a berth in the squad as well.
India will play three Test matches and later two ODIs. The three Test matches will be a part of the World Test Championship (WTC). The first Test match is scheduled to be played from December 26 at Centurion’s SuperSport Park. Initially it was decided that the two nations will play the first Test from December 17 but due to the new Covid-19 variant detected in South Africa the schedule had to be revised.
The second Test will start from January 3, 2022, at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg and the last Test will take place in Cape Town from January 11, 2022.
India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj.
Standby Players: Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswalla.
