Surya to Lead as India Announce T20I Squad for the South Africa series; Vice-Captain Shubman Gill & Hardik return to the squad
India and South Africa are slated to take on each other in the IDFC First Bank five-match T20 International series and India's cricket governing body - The BCCI has announced Team India's squad for the five-match series. Vice-Captain Shubman Gill & ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya have returned to the squad for the twenty-twenty series versus the Proteas. The five-match T20I series will begin from the 9th of December onwards.
Hardik and Shubman Gill return
Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill have returned to the T20I team. Hardik suffered an injury during the 2025 Asia Cup. He missed the final versus Pakistan. Consequently, he was also unable to participate in the ODI and T20I series against Australia. He was subsequently rested from the three-match ODI series against South Africa. However, he has been included in the squad for the forthcoming series against South Africa, commencing December 9th.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill experienced a neck spasm during the opening match of the two-match Test series against South Africa, which precluded him from participating in the ODI series. However, he has since returned to the T20 team.
Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Jasprit Bumrah have all been named in the squad. The squad matches the five-match T20I series against Australia. There has been one alteration in the T20I squad in the form of Nitish Reddy who has been excluded from the team after the return of Hardik.
India Cricket Team's squad for the T20 series against South Africa
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar.
Full Schedule of the series
| No. | Day | Date | Time | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tuesday | 09-Dec-2025 | 7:00 PM | 1st T20I | Cuttack |
| 2 | Thursday | 11-Dec-2025 | 7:00 PM | 2nd T20I | New Chandigarh |
| 3 | Sunday | 14-Dec-2025 | 7:00 PM | 3rd T20I | Dharamshala |
| 4 | Wednesday | 17-Dec-2025 | 7:00 PM | 4th T20I | Lucknow |
| 5 | Friday | 19-Dec-2025 | 7:00 PM | 5th T20I | Ahmedabad |
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