The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s 16-man Test squad for a two-Test series against South Africa commencing next month. Rohit Sharma will continue to lead the Test side with fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as his deputy.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Prasidh Krishna have been added to the Test squad. Shreyas Iyer has returned whereas the notable exclusion is Ajinkya Rahane.
The experienced middle-order batter was India’s highest run-scorer in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final with 145 runs to his name including an 89-run knock in the first innings. Rahane registered two single-digit scores in the two Tests on the Caribbean tour. Also, Cheteshwar Pujara could not find a place in the Test squad either.
Rohit, Virat Kohli, and Bumrah are only available for the Test series. Rohit and Kohli’s request for a break after World Cup 2023 final was approved whereas Bumrah has been rested to manage his workload.
Meanwhile, there is a possibility Mohammed Shami may be unavailable. He is undergoing treatment and his participation will be subject to fitness. In his absence, Prasidh Krishna may get to make his Test debut as he can generate bounce on South African pitches.
India’s Test squad for two Tests against South Africa: 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.
India’s schedule for Test series
1st Test – December 26-30, 2023 at 1:30 PM IST in SuperSport Park, Centurion
2nd Test – January 3-7, 2024 at 2:00 PM IST in Newlands, Cape Town
Meanwhile, India will also have an inter-squad three-day match to acclimatise to the conditions. BCCI has named 26 players who will help the senior team prepare for the Protea challenge. Abhimanyu Easwaran is the only player whose availability is subject to fitness.
India 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, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini.
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