Other than Hardik Pandya's inclusion, the squad remains unchanged more or less.
After team Indian finish their business in the ongoing tour of West Indies, the Virat Kohli-led side will be back at home to ply their trades against South Africa. South Africa’s tour will begin with three-match Twenty-20 International series, starting from September 15.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, on Thursday, announced the 15-member squad that will face the Proteas. Apart from the inclusion of star all-rounder Hardik Pandya and dropping of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the squad remains unchanged from the T20I series against West Indies.
India’s squad for 3 T20Is against South Africa: Virat(Capt), Rohit (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini#INDvSA
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 29, 2019
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who took a two-month sabbatical to serve his time with the Indian Army, has not been included in the squad. There was no official announcement regarding the same and more details are awaited.
Also, wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been ignored once again from the T20I squad. The spinning duties would be taken up by Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Washington Sundar and Krunal Pandya. While the pacers for the series would be Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar.
The batting line-up consists the regulars in the form of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, along with Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer. Iyer, who performed brilliantly in the ODI series against the Windies, is all set to be India’s mainstay at the much-talked-about number four. The same was also confirmed by the head coach Ravi Shastri.
India’s full 15-member T20I squad against South Africa: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.
