The Board of Control for Cricket in India, or BCCI, announced updates to the Test and One-Day International squad for India’s ongoing tour of South Africa.
Ishan Kishan, the wicket-keeper batter, has been withdrawn from the two-match series starting on December 26. According to the press release on the BCCI website on Sunday, Kishan requested for the withdrawal due to personal reasons.
Another change to the Test squad is Mohammed Shami, the veteran pacer whose inclusion was subject to confirmation on his fitness. In a separate press release announced on Saturday, Shami was not cleared to take part in the Test series as per the medical team.
While a replacement for Shami has not been named as of yet, KS Bharat has been named as a like-for-like replacement for Kishan.
After the first ODI, Shreyas Iyer will join the Test squad in preparation for the series and will not be available for the remainder of the three-match series. The first Test will be held in Centurion while a practice match between the India Test squad and an India A side will be held from December 20-23.
A second change to the ODI squad is that Deepak Chahar has also ruled himself out due to a family emergency. The selection committee has named Akash Deep as his replacement.
Furthermore, the coaching staff led by Rahul Dravid will not feature in the ODI series and will instead assist the Test squad in their preparations. The India A staff will oversee the ODI series in their stead.
The visitors levelled the three-match Twenty20 International series 1-1 after the first match was washed out. The first ODI is currently ongoing in Johannesburg with the second to be held in Gqerbha on December 19 and the third in Paarl on December 21.
Updated squads for India’s tour of South Africa
Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)
ODIs: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep
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