Ramandeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak get maiden call-ups as India announce squad for 4 T20Is vs South Africa
Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Ramandeep Singh and Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak have received their maiden India call-ups for the upcoming four-T20I series against South Africa. The BCCI announced the squad for the assignment on Friday, October 25.
Punjab's Ramandeep scored 125 runs in nine innings for KKR in IPL 2024, batting at a strike rate of 201.61 in what can be termed as his breakthrough season as a finisher. Meanwhile, Karnataka's Vyshak has 13 wickets in 11 innings in the IPL.
Most of the remaining squad is along expected lines. There are a few key injury-enforced absences in fast bowler Mayank Yadav, who made his debut against Bangladesh earlier this month and performed well, as well as IPL 2024's standout all-rounders Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag.
"Mayank Yadav and Shivam Dube were unavailable for selection owing to injuries. Riyan Parag was unavailable for selection and is currently at The BCCI Centre of Excellence for long term resolution of his chronic right shoulder injury," the BCCI said in a press release.
Pace-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a good impression against Bangladesh, and Harshit Rana, the highest wicket-taker among uncapped bowlers in IPL 2024, are absent. So is spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar.
However, their snubs appear related to their Test call-ups for India's tour of Australia in November for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In their absence, Axar Patel and Avesh Khan, who haven't been selected in the Test squad, have been named here. Left-arm pacer Yash Dayal has also made it to the team.
India and South Africa, the finalists of the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup, will play four T20Is against each other, starting in Durban on November 8.
India's full squad for South Africa T20Is
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan and Yash Dayal.