Hardik Pandya returns to India's T20I squad vs South Africa; Rinku Singh dropped
India have announced their 15-member squad for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. The selectors have made plenty of changes, including dropping Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill returned to the squad.
India has announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa, slated to begin on December 9. Hardik Pandya, sidelined since the Asia Cup 2025, makes his return after impressing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Punjab. Shubman Gill is also back in the mix after missing the ODI series against the Proteas, though his selection remains contingent on clearing a final fitness test.
Notably, Gill suffered a neck injury in the first Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Since then, he has been out of action and recently reported to BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He is still present in the CoE and will only join the T20I squad after receiving clearance from the team doctors.
On the other hand, in a surprising move, Rinku Singh has been left out of the squad. Despite spending most matches on the bench, the Aligarh-born batter has consistently displayed strong middle-order prowess whenever given an opportunity. He was part of the T20I series in Australia, where he was handed only one opportunity but he didn’t get a chance to bat. Still, the team management has opted to drop him, even with just four months to go before the T20 World Cup 2026.
Meanwhile, the question mark remains on whether Jitesh Sharma or Sanju Samson will feature. The latter established himself as a dynamic opener in the format, but the team management backed Gill to open as Samson was slotted at number five, where he failed to establish his authority. Now, it needs to be seen if Samson is trusted for the Proteas series, but the Suryakumar Yadav-led side once again backs Jitesh.
India's T20I squad vs South Africa
India squad - Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar