Pacer Jasprit Bumrah was handed his maiden Test call-up as the Indian selectors announced the 17-man squad for the tour of South Africa commencing at the end of the year.
There was also a recall for wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel as India opted to take a deputy for mainstay Wriddhiman Saha.
Bumrah has become a vital cog in India’s limited-overs setup over the past year and he beat competition from the likes of Shardul Thakur and Vijay Shankar to take the fifth pacer’s slot in the 17-man squad.
Patel had meanwhile played his last Test for India against England in December 2016 when he was filling in for the injured Saha.
India are set to play three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is in their more than two-month long tour of the African country.
#TeamIndia for three- match Test series against South Africa announced
Virat (Capt), Vijay, Rahul, Shikhar, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Rohit, Saha (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Parthiv, Hardik, Bhuvneshwar, Shami, Ishant, Umesh, Bumrah. #SAvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2017
The squads for the limited-overs matches will be announced at a much later date.
The BCCI also announced the squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka with Rohit Sharma once again chosen to lead the side as Virat Kohli gets a well deserved rest.
#TeamIndia for Paytm T20Is against Sri Lanka announced
Rohit (Capt), Rahul, Shreyas, Manish, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik, W Sundar, Yuzvendra, Kuldeep, Deepak Hooda, Bumrah, M Siraj, Basil Thampi, Jaydev Unadkat. #INDvSL
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2017
There were quite a few fresh faces selected for the T20I series as Kerala pacer Basil Thampi along with all-rounders Deepak Hooda and Washington Sundar receiving their maiden call-up to the national side.
Young all-rounder Washington Sundar was given a maiden call-up.
There was also place in the side for left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat who last played a T20I for India in June 2016 against Zimbabwe.
INDIA SQUAD FOR TEST SERIES AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA
Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vc), Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin,Wriddhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeje, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
INDIA SQUAD FOR T20I SERIES AGAINST SRI LANKA
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah, Basil Thampi, Jaydev Unadkat.
