The Board of Control for Cricket in india (BCCI) has revealed India’s squad for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa. While Rishabh Pant’s return is grabbing all the attention, many fans are curious about why a few familiar faces have been left out of the team. Unlike the Australia ODI series, the Chairman of Selectors, Ajit Agarkar, didn’t speak to the media this time. The BCCI simply announced the team.
Is Hardik Pandya injured?
The main question on everyone’s mind was whether Hardik Pandya is fit. The all-rounder had injured his left quadriceps during the 2025 Asia Cup, which had kept him out of the Australia tour. Hardik’s been at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru since. But he was expected to be fit for the India vs South Africa ODI series.
That hasn’t happened. The BCCI hasn’t provided an update on Hardik, so we don’t know whether he’s injured or being rested just as a precaution. Reports say that BCCI may play Hardik only in T20 matches to keep him fit and ready for the 2026 T20 World Cup. We’ll know for sure when the T20I squad against South Africa is announced.
Axar Patel & Mohammed Siraj: Rested or Dropped?
Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj not being picked seems strange. Axar took 3 wickets and scored 75 runs, the second-most after Rohit Sharma in Australia. He’s also become India’s go-to spin-hitter and now bats in the middle order.
One possible reason for leaving him out could be managing his workload since he plays all formats, but the BCCI hasn’t said anything officially. As for Siraj, he had a poor Australia tour. Since he doesn’t play T20Is now, he isn’t an all-format player.
However, he does feature in all Test matches India plays. Perhaps the medical team has told the selectors to rest Siraj, or the selectors themselves want to try Prasidh Krishan over him, considering the ODI World Cup is two years away.
Varun Chakaravarthy was picked for India’s ODI team for the 2025 Champions Trophy because the pitch in Dubai was perfect for spinners. It turned out to be a great decision, he became India’s top spinner in the tournament. But after that, he hasn’t had much chance to play. Now again, the selectors haven’t turned to him. Given India might not need many spinners in South Africa, perhaps his services aren’t needed now, and he was brought in as a specialist for the UAE.
India ODI squad for South Africa series: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (c & wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana
