The three-T20I series against South Africa will see two major changes in Indian squad. In-form all-rounder Hardik Pandya who is to travel to National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru, has been replaced by Shahbaz Ahmed, as per a Sports Tak source. Also, Deepak Hooda who sustained back injury has been replaced by Shreyas Iyer.
This is Ahmed’s maiden T20I call-up. He was a part of India’s ODI squad for Zimbabwe but did not get to make his debut. On the other hand, Iyer was in standbys for the Australia T20I series.
India's premier fast bowler Mohammed Shami is unlikely to feature in the series against the Proteas as well. Shami is yet to test negative for Covid-19. Shami was brought back into the T20I side after T20 World Cup 2021. However, his return has been delayed after he contracted the virus.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar will also join Pandya at the NCA. Earlier, during the recently concluded T20I series against Australia, Arshdeep Singh went to the NCA.
Shahbaz's IPL record
Shahbaz made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut in 2020. From 29 matches, he has 13 wickets at an average of 36.31 and an economy rate of 8.58 runs per over. His best bowling figures are 3/7. With the bat, he has scored 279 runs at an average of 18.60 and a strike rate of 118.72. His highest IPL score is 45.
The first T20I against Temba Bavuma-led Proteas side will be played on September 28 at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.
India T20I squad for South Africa: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shahbaz Ahmed, Umesh Yadav.
