India announce squad for the T20 series against South Africa; Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh receive maiden call-ups

The Indian Cricket Board announced the squads for the T20 series against South Africa and the fifth rescheduled Test against England on Sunday. Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian Test team for the one rescheduled Test match against England, while KL Rahul will be his deputy. The speculations of Virat Kohli taking rest for the England series have been put to rest as he has also been included in the Test squad.

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Indian veteran Test batter, Cheteshwar Pujara has made a return to the Test side. Though, the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, and Wriddhiman Saha din’t find a place. Rishabh Pant will be first-choice wicket-keeper batter, while KS Bharat has been selected as the back-up keeper in the squad. Besides, the likes of Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, and Hanuma Vihari continue to be part of the squad.

The bowling unit consists of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna etc, while the spin duties will be shared by Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Talking about the T20 international series against South Africa, India’s full-time captain Rohit Sharma has been rested along with Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. In their absence, KL Rahul will lead the side, while Rishabh Pant will assume the vice-captaincy duties.

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Openers, Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad both have made the cut. The middle-order comprise the likes of Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer etc. Veteran batter, Dinesh Karthik has received a call-up on the back of his impressive performances for Bangalore in the ongoing edition of the Indian T20 League. All-rounder Hardik Pandya also has made his way into the squad, while youngsters such as Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh have received maiden call-ups.

Here's a look at the complete squads:

Test Squad - Rohit Sharma (Capt), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna

T20I Squad - KL Rahul (Capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(VC) (wk),Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik