Rohit, Virat to return in Test, SKY, Rahul to assume captaincy mantle in T20Is, ODIs for SA tour

NEW DELHI: Skipper Rohit Sharma and stalwart batter Virat Kohli are set to return to the field after World Cup heartbreak during India's tour of South Africa but only for the Test format. However, Rohit and Virat will only feature in the red ball format and will miss the white ball cricket. In Rohit's absence, Suryakumar Yadav will continue to assume the captaincy role of the team in the T20 format and Ravindra Jadeja will act as his deputy for the same.

For the three ODI games, KL Rahul will take the captaincy charge. The 50-over format will also see the return of Yuzvendra Chahal and Sanju Samson. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced the squad for the Proteas tour which is set to begin in December. "The Men's Selection Committee met in New Delhi on Thursday to pick Team India's squad for the upcoming all-format tour of South Africa. The Indian team will participate in three T20Is, three ODIs and two Test matches.

During the tour, India A will also play two four-day matches against South Africa A and one inter-squad three-day match," a statement from BCCI read. The ODI World Cup 2023 finalists squadron is once again re-assembling for their upcoming quest to of the T20 World Cup. BCCI announced the contract extension of head coach Rahul Dravid and the rest of the management. Dravid's second stint with Team India will be the tour of South Africa which is slated to begin on December 10, consisting of three ODIs and T20Is each and two Tests.

The red-ball leg will start from December 26. The tour will begin with the three-match T20I affair on December 10 at the Kingsmead Stadium. The second T20I will be played on December 12 at the St George's Oval. The 20-over format will conclude on December 14 at the Wanderers Stadium. The 50-over clash will kick off on December 17 at the Wanderers Stadium. The second and final ODI will be played on December 19 and December 21 respectively.

India's squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.

India's squad for 3 T20Is: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.

India's squad for 3 ODIs: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar.