Team India will play two Test matches on their South Africa tour.
Team India captain Rohit Sharma was rested for the limited-overs series in South Africa. He will return to national duty for the two-match Test series that follows the white-ball leg.
India’s tour got off with the first T20I in Dublin but was abandoned without a single bowl due to rain on December 10. Notably, India and South Africa will also play a three-match ODI series before their Test assignments on December 26.
As Rohit is set to return for the Test series after the 2023 World Cup final heartbreak, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that the upcoming two-match Test series will allow the Indian skipper to compensate for the CWC 2023 final defeat because they haven’t won a Test series in South Africa ever.
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Sunil Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Star Sports: “Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were really at the peak of their powers in the last 6-8 months. Like Jacques Kallis said Rohit Sharma is going to be key for India in the Test series. Rohit Sharma will have a big role to play to set up the No. 3,4,5. Whatever happens, this is Rohit Sharma's opportunity to make up for the World Cup final loss.”
Apart from Rohit, Virat Kohli has also recently taken break from the T20I and ODI series on the South Africa tour. The senior batters will return to action in the Test series in South Africa.
India Test squad:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
(With PTI Inputs)