India announce 18-man squad for South Africa Tests, Rahane retains place but injured Jadeja, Axar miss out

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named an 18-man squad for the 3-Test series against South Africa, starting December 26 in Centurion.

While Virat Kohli will lead the team, Rohit Sharma has been named as the new vice-captain of the Test team even as under-pressure Ajinkya Rahane retains his place in the squad.

Rahane has got another chance to prove himself in South Africa despite struggling with form in the ongoing calendar year wherein he averages 19.57 with 411 runs in 12 matches. However, Cheteshwar Pujara, who hit a crucial 47 in the 2nd inning of the Mumbai Test against New Zealand, will continue at No. 3 after having been named in the squad.

INDIA SQUAD FOR 3-TEST SERIES IN SOUTH AFRICA

Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer, who hit a hundred on his Test debut in Kanpur, has been named in the squad along with Mayank Agarwal, who shone in Mumbai with scores of 150 and 62. Agarwal has been added as the backup opener as Rohit and KL Rahul return to the squad. Hanuma Vihari, who was not part of India’s Test squad for New Zealand series, has also returned.

Fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, who were rested for the 2-Test series against New Zealand, return to the side to lead the pace attack, which also has Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur. Ishant Sharma, who was left out of the Mumbai Test with an injury, also made it into the squad.

Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Shubman Gill will miss India’s upcoming tour of South Africa due to injury concerns. Jadeja, Axar, Gill were all part of the recently-concluded Test series between India and New Zealand. However, all three are now expected to be on the sidelines for quite a while.

India squad: Virat Kohli (Capt),Rohit Sharma(vc), 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.

Earlier, South Africa named a 21-man squad led by Dean Elgar for the 3-Test series. Familiar names Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Quinton de Kock are part of the squad, while pacer Duanne Olivier returns to the set-up.

South Africa squad: Dean Elgar (captain), Temba Bavuma (vice-captain), Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper), Kagiso Rabada, Sarel Erwee, Beuran Hendricks, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Glenton Stuurman, Prenelan Subrayen, Sisanda Magala, Ryan Rickelton, Duanne Olivier.

India will play 3 Tests and as many ODIs, while the 4 T20Is which were part of the schedule earlier will be played on a later date, the BCCI had said after its AGM on Sunday in Kolkata. India’s tour was scheduled to start on December 17 but it was postponed due to concerns over a new Omicron Covid variant that was discovered in the region.