The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday (December 8) named India’s squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against South Africa, starting from December 26.

The 18-member squad, led by Virat Kohli, features the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, and Hanuma Vihari as specialist batters.

Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha are the two designated wicketkeepers in the squad, which also includes R Ashwin and Jayant Yadav as premier spinners while Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj form the pace attack.

“The following players were not available for selection due to injuries and are currently undergoing rehabilitation: Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Rahul Chahar,” BCCI said in a media release.

The All-India Senior Selection Committee has also picked Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, and Arzan Nagwaswalla as four standby Players for the Test tour.

India’s Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj.