The BCCI has announced the squad for the T20I series against Sri Lanka and also for the Test squad that tours South Africa in the beginning of January. Virat Kohli has been rested for the T20I series as well after complaining of a 'cramped schedule'. Rohit Sharma will take charge for the shortest format of the game as Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar are included in the batting line-up along with former skipper MS Dhoni.
Yuzvender Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Mohammad Siraj, Basil Thampi and Jaydev Unadkat are included for the three-match T20I series.
As the Sri Lanka tour concludes in December, India take on a bigger and tougher challenge when they travel to South Africa. With the Test squad ready, the new inclusions from the Sri Lanka Test are Parthiv Patel and Hardik Pandya, the latter who was asked to be rested for the Test series against Sri Lanka will be seen in action from January in the Proteas tour from January 5.
Parthiv Patel returns to the national squad after a long time where Jasprit Bumrah gets his maiden call for Test cricket. The last time India toured South Africa in 2013/14, they were beaten 1-0 in a two-match Test series.
Washington Sundar, Deepak Hooda, Basil Thampi and Jaydev Unadkat get their maiden call-up as well as they will feature in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka which will begin from December 20.
India will play three Test matches, six ODIs and three T20I matches.
T20I Squad for Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma(Capt), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Washinton Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah, M Siraj, Basil Thampi, Jaydev Unadkat.
Test Squad for South Africa
Virat Kohli (Capt), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rohit Sharma, Wridhhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.