IND vs SA: Suryakumar Yadav to lead T20 team, Sanju Samson returns for ODIs, Shreyas Iyer back in Test squad

After the news of Rahul Dravid's contract extension became public, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) management, selectors, and the coach met in New Delhi on Thursday (November 30, 2023), to discuss the roadmap ahead, focusing on the South Africa tour. However, it's noteworthy that Dravid stated that he hasn't signed any papers yet. 

He said, "I haven't yet signed a contract with the BCCI but had discussions on tenure. Once I get the papers, I will sign".

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The extension of contracts for head coach Rahul Dravid and the support staff of Team India (Senior Men) was announced on Wednesday.

Talking about the squad, however, according to the BCCI's X profile (formerly known as Twitter) update, the Indian team is scheduled to partake in three T20Is, three ODIs, and two Test matches during the upcoming tour. Additionally, India A will be engaged in two four-day matches against South Africa A and an inter-squad three-day match.

In the context of player availability, it has been communicated that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have requested a break from the white-ball leg of the tour. The participation of Mohammed Shami is contingent on his fitness, as he is currently undergoing medical treatment.

For the T20I series, the rumours proved wrong as Suryakumar Yadav is slated to lead the team and not Rohit Sharma, with Ravindra Jadeja serving as his deputy in the shortest format of the game.

India's squad for 3 T20Is: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.

KL Rahul has been appointed as the captain of the ODI team, with the squad welcoming the return of Sanju Samson. Additionally, Rajat Patidar and Sai Sudharsan have been included in the ODI lineup. Notably, Surya Kumar Yadav has not been included in the 50-over format for this series.

India's squad for 3 ODIs: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar.

After the conclusion of the limited-overs segment, featuring three T20Is and an equal number of ODIs, India and South Africa are set to engage in a two-Test series at Centurion and Johannesburg on December 26 and January 3, respectively. 

The Test team will witness the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, with Shreyas Iyer also making a comeback. Jasprit Bumrah has been designated as the vice-captain for the Test squad. 

Notably, this series will mark the first time since the 2010 Test series that India will be without Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in the squad.

India's squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna. 

Other squads for the South Africa tour:

The India A tour of South Africa A is scheduled to kick off with the first game taking place from December 11 to 14, followed by the second game from December 20 to 22, and the third game from December 26 to 29. Abhimanyu Easwaran's participation is contingent upon his fitness.

India Inter-squad three-day match: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pulkit Narang, Harshit Rana, Shardul Thakur, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini.

India A squad for the 1st four-day match: 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, Tushar Deshpande.  

India A squad for 3rd 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, Navdeep Saini.