On November 30, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s all-format squads for the 2023-24 South Africa tour. Along with the senior men’s squad, BCCI also announced the India A squad, which will play 2 four-day matches against South Africa A.
There were a lot of speculations about who would lead the team in all 3 formats for this series. Since Rohit Sharma requested a break from the white-ball series, coupled with Hardik Pandya’s injury, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the T20I team, while KL Rahul will take charge of the ODI squad. Rohit will captain the side in the 2-match Test series.
The selectors have named young players in all 3 formats, pointing towards a transition phase for the team. Only 3 players — Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Mukesh Kumar — find themselves in all 3 squads.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s inclusion in all squads indicates that the management is looking at him as a potential opener going forward. The same can be said for Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has so far impressed everyone with his performances in Tests and T20Is. And Jaiswal might continue to open for India in both formats.
Rinku Singh has ensured that his explosive finishing touches keep him in the T20I squad. His finishing skills can give him a visa for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Moreover, he has also been selected in the ODI setup, potentially indicating that he will fill the shoes of a proper finisher.
Keeper-batter Sanju Samson has been recalled to the ODI team, but it will be interesting to see if he will be picked in the XI considering KL Rahul will keep the wickets. The same is the case with Yuzvendra Chahal, who has been named in the ODI squad after getting dropped ahead of the World Cup.
Apart from these recalls, 2 new players — Sai Sudharsan and Rajat Patidar — have earned their call-ups for the ODI series on the back of their performances in the domestic circuit.
Now, take a look at India’s squad for all formats:
India’s Squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna
India’s squad for ODIs: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C & wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan
India’s squad for T20Is: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
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