Injuries to numerous cricketers mean the All India Senior Selection Committee, led by Chetan Sharma, is delaying in picking the squads for the forthcoming South Africa tour.

India are slated to play three Tests and as many ODIs on the tour of South Africa from December 26 to January 23.

According to a report published in The Indian Express, the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Shubman Gill, and Ishant Sharma are doubtful for the tour of South Africa over injury and fitness concerns.

All four of them were part of the recently concluded two-Test series against New Zealand but they are now expected to be on the sidelines for a considerable period.

As per the report, Jadeja has a ligament tear while Akshar has a stress fracture. The absence of the duo isn't expected to hurt the Indian team much as they prefer to go with only one spinner in seam-friendly conditions.

Notably, Jadeja didn’t feature in the second Test against New Zealand either, with Jayant Yadav replacing him in the playing XI as the third spinner.

“All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja suffered a right forearm injury during the 1st Test match in Kanpur. After undergoing scans, he was diagnosed with a swelling on his forearm. He has been advised rest and is thus ruled out of the 2nd Test in Mumbai,” the BCCI release had stated ahead of the start of the Mumbai Test last week.

The report also suggests that Jadeja's ligament tear is expected to take months to heal. In fact, the all-rounder might not return to action until the start of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

On the other hand, Akshar is expected to regain full fitness in six weeks. With the South Africa tour kicking off later this month, it doesn't look like he would be available for the first couple of matches at least.

As for Shubman Gill, his shin injury has resurfaced again, which ruled him out of the England Test series in August-September this year. With Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul as first-choice openers and Mayank Agarwal regaining form against New Zealand, Team India are unlikely to risk with Gill.

Meanwhile, veteran pacer Ishant Sharma has a side strain and will take time to be match fit. With Mohammed Siraj doing wonders in Test cricket lately, the selectors were anyways considering looking beyond Ishant.

(Inputs from The Indian Express)