Virat Kohli led team India is scheduled to tour South Africa in the month of January next year to play the Freedom series. On November 28, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was scheduled to announce the Indian squad for the same. But due to an unforeseen reason, the announcement has been postponed and will be done during the third India vs Sri Lanka Test in Delhi.
What actually happened?
As per several media reports, BCCI election panel convenor Amitabh Choudhary was supposed to reach Nagpur for a meeting with Virat Kohli, chief selector MSK Prasad with other members Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh. The agenda was the selection of the Indian squad for the South Africa Tour. But Choudhary couldn’t make it as his flight got delayed.
The job is still pending and the selection panel will meet during the third Test match in Delhi.
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What’s Next?
Selecting players for the upcoming tour will not be an easy job for the selectors. it’s expected that a squad of 16-18 players may be sent depending on the spin and pace combination the team will be needing in the South African conditions.
Considering this series as an important one, Virat Kohli has been given a rest for the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka. However, he will feature in the last Test in Delhi. In his absence, Rohit Sharma has been given the responsibility and uncapped Punjab bowler Siddharth Kaul has got the maiden call.
The announced squad for the rest of the Sri Lanka series is listed below:
India squad for the third Test: Virat Kohli (Captain), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar.
India squad for the ODI series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul.
