The BCCI selection committee, chaired by Ajit Agarkar, will announce the teams for the next South Africa white-ball series in the coming week. The Test squad, on the other hand, is scheduled to be announced when India ‘A’ finishes their three-day visit in December 2023.
The ODI series is unlikely to be accorded much weight now that the 2023 ODI World Cup has passed. The emphasis will instead be on the T20I team, with the 2024 T20 World Cup in June in mind.
It remains to be seen if senior players are selected in the team or whether the second-string group is given another chance.
The squad will be picked in the weekend of Monday. There are a lot of things to discuss. But before Tests, we play T20s and ODIs, so squad will be around that,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.
Suryakumar Yadav may captain the squad again in the three-match series, which begins on December 10, with Hardik Pandya still sidelined due to an ankle injury received during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
However, everything is dependent on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s T20I futures. Since Team India’s loss from the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final against England, the tandem has not played a single T20I. According to InsideSport, head selector Ajit Agarkar would undertake showdown meetings with both of them before announcing the selection.
We must choose quickly about including them as Team India only has six T20I games left before the World Cup after touring South Africa.
Hardik Pandya in Doubt for South Africa Tour Due to Injury
The ace all-rounder is not playing in the recent T20I series against Australia, and he is unlikely to be fit for the forthcoming trip of South Africa.
“It’s the selection committee’s call. They will be in touch with the NCA (National Cricket Academy) on players’ workload management before taking a call. Hardik is not fit at the moment,” the BCCI official told InsideSport.
As per reports, the choice team will decide on Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul’s squad participation. Alongside Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, this pair hasn’t been in the T20I squad for quite some time.
Bumrah returned to the game in the T20I series against Ireland, which he led. However, before this, his previous T20I game was back in September 2022.
