Hardik Pandya back for T20Is, Rinku Singh and Nitish Reddy axed

Hardik Pandya will return to international cricket for the first time in over two months after being named in India’s squad for the five T20Is against South Africa. 

Shubman Gill, who missed the second Test and all three ODIs against South Africa owing to a beck spasm, has also been named but his participation is subject to clearance from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence before the series begins on December 9. 

Rishabh Pant has not been picked, with the BCCI selectors sticking with Jitesh Sharma as the second wicketkeeper after Sanju Samson who could return to the opening slot in Gill’s absence. Samson was forced out of the XI once Gill was recalled for the T20 Asia Cup, and when he has gotten chances since, they have been at one-down or lower in the middle. 

Pandya’s return means that Reddy has been dropped, even though he has not played a T20I since 2024. From India’s previous T20I squad that toured Australia last month, Rinku Singh’s name is also missing. 

The presence of Pandya, who has not played since India’s final league stage match of the Asia Cup in September, is a big boost for India and settles the playing 11. The allrounder proved his fitness during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 (SMAT) this week, smacking an unbeaten 77 off 42 balls for Baroda on Tuesday, after bowling four overs for 52 runs. 

The five matches will be played between December 9 and 19 in Cuttack, New Chandigarh, Dharamsala, Lucknow and Ahmedabad. 

India T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar