India squad for South Africa series announced: Death-over sensation Rinku Singh earns maiden ODI callup, Ruturaj Gaikwad Test callup
Friday, 1 December 2023 (11:23 IST)
New Delhi: Death-over sensation Rinku Singh received his maiden ODI callup with Team India for the South Africa tour, beginning December 10.
Rinku is playing in the ongoing T20I series against Australia, in which he already has established a name as the death-over sensation, which was evident in a thriller at Visakhapatnam when he clobbered an unaccounted six to guide India to victory off last-ball no-ball.
Rinku came into limelight in 2023 Indian Premier League, and made his maiden appearance for India in the T20 Asian Games this year, where they won the gold medal.
Rinku has scored 128 runs, at an average of 128 and strike-rate of 216.94, out of 8 T20I matches, and has been playing for Uttar Pradesh in domestic tournaments. He has scored 1,844 runs from 55 matches in List A cricket.
Ruturaj Gaikwad also earned his maiden callup in the Test series after his sensational T20I ton against Australia in the ongoing T20I series.
Tamil Nadu's Sai Sudarshan is the third player to receive his maiden callup in the India squad. He has given some exquisite performances in the IPL for Gujarat Titans.
Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead Team India in the three-match T20I series against South Africa in the three-match T20I series against South Africa.
The star batsman is captaining Team India in the ongoing five-match T20I series against Australia in India. The T20I series starts from December 10.
Wicket-keeper batsman KL Rahul has been named captain for the ODI series after the T20I series, starting on December 17. Hardik Pandya has been left out in all formats of the game as he is recuperating from an ankle injury which he sustained in the ODI World Cup match against Bangladesh last month.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who was ignored by the national selectors for the World Cup, has been included for the ODI series. Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah also make a comeback.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been included in the Test series, but have been omitted after the BCCI accepted their request of giving a break in the white-ball series.
In addition to the senior squad, wicketkeeper batsman KS Bharat will lead India A team who will play three four-day matches in a shadow tour of South Africa.
Moreover, India will also play a three-day inter-squad match, the squad for which has a combination of both senior men's team players and India A players.
Mohammad Shami's availability is subject to fitness as he is currently undergoing medical treatment. Abhimanyu Easwaran’s availability also is subject to fitness too.
