The Indian team was announced for the three-match Test series against South Africa starting on October 2. On Thursday afternoon in Mumbai, the selectors selected the 15-man squad after talks with captain Virat Kohli in Delhi. Opener KL Rahul has not got a place in the team as expected. At the same time, Shubman Gill is the new name, who may get a chance to make a test debut.
Virat Kohli will once again lead the Indian team, who recently defeated the West Indies on Caribbean soil. The vice-captain will be the responsibility of middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane.
The selection committee headed by MSK Prasad has given a chance to young player Shubman Gill. KL Rahul has been shown the way out of the team. Meaning, after T20 and ODI, Rohit Sharma will show his power as an opener in Tests too. Rohit was also a part of the Test team against the West Indies, but he was not included in the playing XI.
TEST TEAM: Virat Kohli (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jaspreet Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill.
Before the Test series, South Africa will also play a practice match against the Board President’s XI, which will be captained by Rohit Sharma. Apart from this, along with the announcement of the team, Chief Selector MSK Prasad said that Rohit Sharma will open in the Test series against South Africa.
Board President XI: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Siddhesh Lad, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Jalaj Saxena, Dharmendra Singh Jadeja, Avesh Khan, Ishan Porel, Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav.
South Africa tour of India will begin from 15th of September with T20I match. Test matches to be played from 2nd October, 2nd Test from 10th October while the third one will be played on 19th October. The series will end with ODI’s.