BCCI announces 18-member squad for South Africa Test series; Hanuma Vihari included

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has named a 18-member squad for India’s upcoming Test series against South Africa. The red-ball matches were earlier set to get underway on December 17, but had to be postponed due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. The opening Test will now start on December 26 at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.

The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg and Newlands in Cape Town are the hosts for the remaining two matches. Ajinkya Rahane has had a rough time in Test cricket over the last 12 months, but has been named the vice-captain for the series. Hanuma Vihari wasn’t a part of the two-match Test series against New Zealand that India won after winning the Mumbai Test.

Vihari was rather picked to play for India A in their unofficial Tests against South Africa A at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein. He has been rewarded with a place in the Indian team for the series against the Proteas. Vihari last played Test cricket earlier year in the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia after which he couldn’t make the cut against England and New Zealand.

BCCI to name India ODI squad in a few days

The selectors are also set to name the squad for the three-match ODI series, starting Wednesday, January 19, in a few days. The reports of Virat Kohli losing ODI captaincy have turned out to be true as the All-India Senior Selection Committee have named Rohit Sharma as the ODI and T20I skipper.

India are currently placed third in the points table in the 2021-23 World Test Championship with three wins from seven games. Their other two wins came against England earlier this year. Sri Lanka and Pakistan are holding the top two spots in the table with the Lankans having a 100 percent win record.

India squad for South Africa Tests

Squad: Virat Kohli (Capt),Rohit Sharma(vc), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(wk), Wriddhiman Saha(wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj

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