Hardik Pandya back for South Africa T20Is; Shubman Gill in squad if fit

Hardik Pandya back for South Africa T20Is; Shubman Gill in squad if fit

Shubman Gill is back as India’s vice-captain for the T20I series against South Africa. His place in the team will depend on a fitness clearance from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence.

The other big news is the return of Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. Nitish Reddy and Rinku Singh have been left out of the squad. Bumrah comes back after being rested for the ODI series.

India squad for the T20I series vs South Africa:

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar.

Gill, who is also India’s Test and ODI captain, hurt his neck in the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata. He missed the second Test and the ODI series while recovering at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Recently, he batted for long periods without showing discomfort, which is a positive sign.

Pandya last played for India in the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka on September 26. A thigh injury kept him out for weeks, but after rehab, he returned in Baroda’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Punjab on December 2, where he scored a match-winning 77 not out and took one wicket.

The five-match T20I series starts on December 9 in Cuttack, followed by games in Mullanpur (Dec 11), Dharamsala (Dec 14), Lucknow (Dec 17), and ends in Ahmedabad (Dec 19).