India is gearing up for an all-format tour of South Africa with a distinctive captaincy lineup for each squad. Rohit Sharma will lead the Test team, K.L. Rahul will helm the One-Day Internationals (ODIs), and Suryakumar Yadav will captain the T20I squad.
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli requested a break from the white-ball leg of the tour, opting to participate solely in the two Tests scheduled from December 26-30 at Centurion and from January 3-7, 2024, at Cape Town.
During a meeting of the Men's Selection Committee in New Delhi, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed the squads for the upcoming tour comprising three T20Is, three ODIs, and two Test matches.
While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are included exclusively for the five-day matches, the selection of Mohammed Shami in the Test squad is subject to his recovery from ongoing medical treatment. Despite being the top wicket-taker in the recent World Cup, Shami has been omitted from the ODI squad.
The Test squad features openers such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, and Ruturaj Gaikwad alongside regular openers Rohit Sharma and Shubham Gill. Notably, spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are part of the bowling unit.
In the white-ball squads, Sanju Samson has been included in the three ODI matches, while Yuzvendra Chahal returns to the 50-over format. Players like Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, and Arshdeep Singh have been selected in both the ODI and T20I squads.
India A will also be part of the tour, playing two four-day matches against South Africa A and one inter-squad three-day match. K.S Bharat will captain the India A team in the first four-day match, with Abhimanyu Easwaran's selection contingent on fitness.
The tour will commence with the T20Is from December 10 to 14 in Durban, Gqeberha, and Johannesburg, followed by ODIs on December 17, 19, and 21 in Johannesburg, Gqeberha, and Paarl, respectively.
Seniors' squads:
- Squad for Tests
- Squad for 3 T20Is
- Squad for 3 ODIs
India A squad:
- Squad for 1st four-day match
- India Inter-squad three-day match
- Squad for 3rd four-day match
Fixtures:
- Dec 11-14: 1st four-day match
- Dec 20-22: 2nd three-day match
- Dec 26-29: 3rd four-day match
(With Agency Inputs)
