India Announces Squad for Five-Match T20I Series vs South Africa Starting December

The BCCI has announced India’s squad for the T20I series against South Africa. With only 10 T20Is left before the 2026 T20 World Cup, there are no big surprises in the lineup. Vice-captain Shubman Gill is back after missing the ODI series because of a neck injury, but he will play only if cleared by the BCCI Centre of Excellence.

Hardik Pandya, who was out during the Australia tour due to a quadricep injury, has also returned after a successful recovery. The series between India and South Africa will start on December 9 in Cuttack. Even though Rishabh Pant is healthy, he hasn’t been picked.

The BCCI Selection Committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, prefers Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma. Nitish Kumar Reddy is also not included because Hardik Pandya is back. For fast bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh will play, with Harshit Rana as the third pacer.

Since Hardik Pandya is fit, he will act as a second pacer in Indian conditions. This gives the team a chance to include another all-rounder, Shivam Dube. There were rumours of Riyan Parag making a comeback in India’s T20I squad.

Suryakumar Yadav Captain, Shubman Gill Vice-Captain

But with the countdown to the T20 World Cup 2026 on, the selectors have not made any mistakes. Instead, they have trusted the squad that has been playing constantly since the last T20 WC. With Abhishek Sharma in form, there will be a lot of eyeballs on Shubman Gill.

The newly-appointed vice-captain of T20I side scored 37 off 20, 5 off 10, 15 off 12, 46 off 39 and 29 off 16 in the five matches in Australia. With the next 10 matches in India, Gill has a chance to silence his critics with some good scores. 

There’s also some doubt about Sanju Samson, who was dropped for Jitesh Sharma after the first two T20Is. It will be important to see if the team chooses Samson at No. 5 or keeps Jitesh at No. 6. One big omission was Rinku Singh, who wasn’t picked because the selectors preferred all-rounders instead.

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC, Subject to fitness), 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

IND vs SA T20I Series Schedule

Match	Day	Date	Time	Venue
1st T20I	Tuesday	09-Dec-25	7:00 PM	Cuttack
2nd T20I	Thursday	11-Dec-25	7:00 PM	New Chandigarh
3rd T20I	Sunday	14-Dec-25	7:00 PM	Dharamsala
4th T20I	Wednesday	17-Dec-25	7:00 PM	Lucknow
5th T20I	Friday	19-Dec-25	7:00 PM	Ahmedabad