The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has announced India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya have returned to the squad, while Nitish Kumar Reddy has been left out. Gill’s inclusion, however, is subject to fitness after he sustained a neck injury during the first Test against South Africa. He faced only three balls in that match and later missed the second Test and the ongoing ODI series. A fitness test will determine his availability for the T20Is.
Pandya makes his India comeback after over two months, having recovered from the quadriceps injury he picked up during India’s Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash against Sri Lanka. Following rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, he recently returned to competitive cricket in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His return has resulted in Reddy’s exclusion from the squad.
There was no return for Rishabh Pant, with Jitesh Sharma and Sanju Samson retained as wicketkeeping options. Jitesh had replaced Samson during the recent T20I series against Australia.
The India–South Africa T20I series will run from December 9 to 19, with matches scheduled in Cuttack, Mullanpur, Dharamsala, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad.
India squad: 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.