India's Test squad announced for South Africa Test series, Rohit Sharma named ODI captain

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the 18 member squad for the upcoming Test series against South Africa later this month.

The Indian cricket team most recently registered a series win over the World Test Champions New Zealand a few days back. Up next, they will take on the South African cricket team on their home soil from the 26th of November.

The Indian team is likely to travel to South Africa next week, and before that, the BCCI has announced a 18 member squad taht will travel to the African country. Along with the 18, 4 reserve players will also be travelling with the squad.

Virat Kohli as usual will be leading the team. Rohit Sharma has been named the new vice-captain of the captain. The Mumbai lad has also been named the ODI captain of the Indian team, he will replace Virat Kohli. This happens after Kohli decided to step down as India's T20I captain after the T20 World Cup 2021 to manager his workload.

Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha and Ishant Sharma have also been selected after lots of debate on social media wanting a change. However, the selectors and the team have kept their faith in them.

Important players like Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel have not been selected due to all undergoing rehabilitation from injuries they suffered during the New Zealand series.

Hanuma Vihari, who was dropped for the New Zealand series, led to many fans protest against the decision, has made a comeback into the squad after impressing in the India A's series against South Africa A.

Meanwhile, in absence of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin will be the lead spinner in the series. Jayant Yadav has managed to retain his spot in the team.

Middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer, who impressed the fans with his performance on his debut Test match, has also been picked. The squad for the One Day International (ODI) series will be announced later.

Standby Players: Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswalla.#SAvIND

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 8, 2021

India Squad for the Test series against South Africa

Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj.

Reserve Players: Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswalla.