Ramandeep Singh and Vijaykumar Vyshak earned maiden India call-ups on Friday as the BCCI announced squad for an upcoming T20I tour of South Africa. Pacer Mayank Yadav, who recently made his India debut during the T20I series against Bangladesh, has not been included in the squad for the trip to South Africa, owing to an injury. “Mayank Yadav and Shivam Dube were unavailable for selection owing to injuries,” the BCCI said in a release.
All-rounder Riyan Parag was also unavailable for selection. As per BCCI’s release, the is currently at The BCCI Centre of Excellence for long term resolution of his chronic right shoulder injury.
Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead the side, while the BCCI didn’t name any designated vice-captain for the four-match series.
The series will get underway on November 8, while the final game will be on the 14th of November. The matches will be played in four different venues — Durban, Gqeberha, Centurion and Johannesburg, respectively.
There was no place in the squad for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is expected to lead India ‘A’ during their upcoming tour of Australia.
Meanwhile, Ramandeep’s inclusion comes on the back of his stellar performance in the ongoing ACC T20 Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup. However, India’s campaign came to an end after a defeat to Afghanistan in the semi-finals.
Along with the T20I squad, the BCCI also named the Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia, starting November 22. Three uncapped Test players Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana and Abhimanyu Easwaran are in line for their long-format debut. Since India are scheduled to play five Tests, the BCCI has named a big travelling contingent, also comprising of three reserve players.
India’s squad for 4 T20Is against South Africa:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.
