Team India will be boosted by the return of seamers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the upcoming T20 series against Australia and South Africa at home on Monday, September 12.
However, it was the return of experienced pacer Mohammed Shami that surprised many. The 32-year-old last featured for India in shortest format back in November 2021 against Namibia during the side’s T20 World Cup campaign.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will have to report to National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for conditioning-related work during the course of the home series.
The trio were part of India's squad that crashed out of the Super 4 stage of the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022 tournament. Young pacer Arshdeep will not play in the series against Australia, while Bhuvneshwar and Hardik have been rested for the South Africa series.
India are set to play three T20Is against Australia, starting 20 September. The men in blue will then meet the Proteas in a three-match T20I series, beginning 28 September followed by as many ODIs ahead of their T20 World Cup campaign Down Under.
Squads:
Australia T20Is: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.
South Africa T20Is: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.
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