Indian batter Hanuma Vihari has been included in India A's squad for the three four-day matches against South Africa A, starting on November 23.

BCCI confirmed the addition with a tweet after discarding the batter from the 16-man Test squad to face New Zealand in the two-match Test series at home.

The squad which was named on Friday (November 12) raised few eyebrows when Vihari's name went missing. From fans to cricket analysts like Harsha Bhogle and Aakash Chopra questioned his exclusion.

READ ALSO: Vihari's omission from Test squad leaves Harsha Bhogle and Aakash Chopra perplexed

Vihari will have three matches in South Africa to stake claim to be in the India Test squad for the three-match series against the hosts starting on December 17.

"We are sending Vihari to South Africa for the A series and his performance in the three 'A Test' matches will be monitored," a senior BCCI functionary confirmed to PTI.

Vihari's form has been in question and the selection committee reportedly wants him to get some runs before he is re-considered for national selection. He had famously saved the Sydney Test against Australia in January with R Ashwin while battling a hamstring injury.

India A squad: Priyank Panchal (Captain), Hanuma Vihari, Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Baba Aparajith, Upendra Yadav (wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Ishan Porel, Arzan Nagwaswalla.