Rohit Sharma will captain the Indian Test team for the upcoming tour of South Africa, BCCI confirmed on November 29. However, he isn’t a part of the T20I and ODI squads, with Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul being named the captains for those two formats respectively. Just like Rohit, Virat Kohli has asked for rest from the white-ball leg of the tour and doesn’t make it to either of the limited-overs squads. India will play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests during the December-January tour.
Under Rohit’s leadership, India won 10 games in a row in the 50-over World Cup before losing out to Australia in the final. Last year, India had also reached the semifinal of the 2022 World Cup held in Australia, where they lost out to England by 10 wickets. Rohit, however, had a poor time with the bat in that tournament, scoring just 116 runs at an average of 19.33. Since then, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar have been leading the Indian team in the shortest format.
Rahul is also to set don the wicket-keeping gloves in Tests, while Ruturaj Gaikwad has received a maiden call-up in the longest format. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, the two experienced batters, have not been picked in the Test squad as India enters a transition phase. On the other hand, Mohammed Shami has been selected subject to medical clearance, observed the BCCI.
Sanju Samson, the wicket-keeper-bat, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar and Sai Sudarshan have all been included in the ODI squad, while Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav aren’t part of it. Ravichandran Ashwin, the veteran off-spinner, who played just one game in the World Cup, also doesn’t find a place in the ODI squad.
In the T20I scheme of things, Ravindra Jadeja has been announced as the vice-captain for the series. Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj and Deepak Chahar have also been selected.
India’s squad for 3 T20Is: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
India’s squad for 2 Tests: 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, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
India’s squad for 3 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, Deepak Chahar.