Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer have returned to the Indian Test team for the two-match series against South Africa. Virat Kohli, who chose not to participate in the white-ball phase of the trip, is a member of Rohit Sharma’s squad, but Ajinkya Rahane has been dropped.
Mohammed Shami is also back, but his participation is contingent on his fitness; the BCCI statement announcing the squad stated that the fast bowler was “currently undergoing medical treatment.” Shami was rested for India’s most recent Test series in the West Indies in July.
In addition, Rahul Dravid’s contract was renewed on Wednesday, making this the first Test assignment of his second term as India’s head coach.
There was no room for KS Bharat, one of just two keepers in the West Indies, as he fell behind Ishan Kishan in the pecking order, since Rahul was included as a wicketkeeping option. India had favored Bharat above Kishan prior to that tour, for both the World Test Championship final at The Oval and the home series against Australia.
Fast bowlers Jaydev Unadkat and Navdeep Saini were both left off of the West Indies tour squad; however, fellow quick Mukesh Kumar, who made his debut in that series, was retained.
Bumrah last competed in a Test match at Birmingham, England, over 17 months ago. After recovering from a more than year-long back injury, Bumrah has gradually increased his effort in various white-ball events.
He made his comeback to the game in August of this year, leading India’s pace attack at the 2023 World Cup, when he finished as the fourth best wicket-taker in the competition. After lengthy injury absences, Rahul and Iyer are also making a comeback to Test cricket. They had not played the format since the Border-Gavaskar series, which took place at home in February and March.
Rahane, who was elevated to the position of Test vice-captain for India on their July Caribbean trip after an outstanding performance in the WTC final against Australia at The Oval, had no room to grow with Iyer’s comeback. Rahane scored three and eight in his next two Caribbean innings.
Shubman Gill will continue to bat at No. 3, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, a breakout star who scored a century on his Test debut in the West Indies, is anticipated to start with Rohit. Ruturaj Gaikwad defeated Abhimanyu Easwaran to be the reserve opener, much like in the Caribbean.
With his inclusion in the Bharat-led India A squad for the three-day intra-squad match and the four-day match against South Africa A, Easwaran will have a chance to further establish his credentials. But his admission is contingent on his level of fitness.
Based on their domestic results, the selectors have also personally chosen Rajasthan left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, Karnataka seamer Vidwath Kaverappa, and Delhi fast-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana for the four-day series. Rana and Suthar are among a larger group of players that the NCA has identified. They made an impression for India A at the Emerging Nations’ Asia Cup in July. Both Tilak Varma and Sarfaraz Khan, a prolific batsman for Mumbai, are in the mix for the red-ball matches.
India will play two Test matches in South Africa starting on December 26 in Centurion and January 3 in Cape Town. Following a two-Test series in the West Indies in July that India won 2-0, this is India’s second series in the 2023–2025 World Test Championship cycle. Following the South African series, India will come home to host England for five Test matches that are also a part of the World Tour cycle.
India last participated in a Test series in South Africa in December and January of 2021–2022, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to South Africa’s victories in Johannesburg and Cape Town to win the series 2-1, India had won the first Test at Centurion.
The Indian Test team headed to South Africa
Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Rohit Sharma (captain), and Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Devdutt Padikkal, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Sarfaraz Khan, KS Bharat (C)(wk), Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, Pulkit Narang, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, and Tushar Deshpande are the members of the India A team for the first four-day match.
Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KS Bharat (C)(wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, and Navdeep Saini are the members of the India A squad for the second four-day match.
