Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya made a return to the Indian T20I side as the BCCI announced a full-fledged side against South Africa for the five-match series starting on December 9. Meanwhile, doubts over Shubman Gill continued as the BCCI named the right-hander in the squad but mentioned that the 26-year-old subject to clearance from the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.

Shubman, who was recently elevated to the ODI and Test captaincy, suffered a neck spasm during the first Test in Kolkata. The injury looked non-serious initially but worsened later on that day, forcing the BCCI to admit him at a private hospital.

Although he was released a day after, Gill was eventually ruled out of the second Test and the ongoing three-match ODI series. He was later flown to Mumbai for further medical assessments.

As far as the Indian squad is concerned, Bumrah and Pandya, who were rested against Australia, were recalled against the Proteas. The only notable omission is Rinku Singh, who has been dropped. Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead the side.

India’s T20I Squad against South Africa

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

Note: * Subject to fitness clearance from BCCI COE.

India to fine-tune gaps before T20 World Cup

The five-match series will be India’s second-last series to fine-tune their preparations before the T20 World Cup 2026, which will start in February next year. Post the South Africa series, India will host New Zealand in another five-match T20I series, starting on January 21 at home.

At the T20 World Cup 2026, India have been clubbed alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, USA, Namibia and Netherlands in Group A. India will start their campaign against USA on February 7, followed by matches against Namibia on February 12, against Pakistan on February 15 and against Netherlands on February 18.