Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill return as India announce squad for T20I series against South Africa

Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill returned as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. Hardik recently recovered from a left quadricep injury and led Baroda to a victory in their clash against Punjab in his comeback game in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025.

Gill has been recovering from a neck injury sustained during the Kolkata Test against South Africa last month and has been undergoing rehab at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. Gill has been named vice-captain of the side, but his selection is subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI medical team at the CoE.

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Gill missed the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati and the ongoing ODI series against the Proteas after his neck injury in Kolkata. He reportedly pinched a nerve and required adequate rest before resuming training. The star batter was expected to miss the T20I series, but seems to have recovered in time for the five-match rubber.

Gill will reportedly play his final RTP (Return to Play) clearance match on Thursday at the CoE before travelling to Cuttack to join the rest of India's T20I squad. The five-match T20I series is set to get underway on Tuesday, December 09. The first match will be played at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.

There are no major surprises in India's T20I squad for the South Africa series, as the selectors have retained almost all the players who featured in the T20I series against Australia in October-November this year. Hardik, who missed the Australia series due to injury, has returned in place of Rinku Singh, who has been left out of the squad.

Senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested from the ongoing ODI series against South Africa, will return to lead the pace attack in the five-match T20I series. India have a settled top order featuring Gill, in-form opener Abhishek Sharma, skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma. Hardik will slot into the middle order alongside Shivam Dube.

Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are the other all-rounders in the squad. Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma are the two wicket-keeper batters, and it remains to be seen who will be the first-choice behind the stumps in the series. Bumrah will lead the pace attack featuring Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh, while Kuldeep Yadav is the lone specialist spinner in the squad.

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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