The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday (December 3) announced India’s 16-member squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa.

The five-match series is slated to get underway on December 9 in Cuttack, followed by matches in New Chandigarh on December 11, Dharamsala on December 14, Lucknow on December 17, and Ahmedabad on December 19.

The T20I series will could Shubman Gill’s return to competitive action after he missed quite a few matches due to injury. However, Gill’s participation in the series is subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI’s Center of Excellence.

Gill sustained a neck injury while batting in the first innings of the Kolkata Test against South Africa last month. The injury forced him to retire hurt and he wasn’t able to take further part in the match. The captain was also ruled out of the Guwahati Test which India lost to go down 2-0 in the series and has been absent from the ongoing three-match ODI series against Proteas.

The Suryakumar-led side features Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma as premier batters. Jitesh Sharma and Sanju Samson are the two wicketkeeper batters in the squad.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya will also make his comeback for India during the T20I series after recovering from the left quadricep injury he suffered during the Asia Cup 2025 in September. Shivam Dube, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are three more all-round options in the squad.

Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav are the leading spinners while Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshit Rana will spearhead the pace attack.

India’s squad for South Africa T20Is:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC)*, 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

Note: * Subject to fitness clearance from BCCI COE.