Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill Make Comeback to Indian T20I Squad for South Africa Series

Pandya and Gill Return to T20I Team

On Wednesday, the Indian T20I team welcomed back all-rounder Hardik Pandya and prominent batsman Shubman Gill for their upcoming five-match series against South Africa, following their recovery from injuries.

Gill, who had been sidelined for a significant portion of the Test series and ODIs against South Africa due to a neck injury, has been named vice-captain for the T20 matches, contingent upon receiving fitness clearance from the BCCI Centre of Excellence, as stated by the board.

Pandya, who missed the Asia Cup 2025 final and the series in Australia, also rejoined the Indian squad after demonstrating his fitness during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Punjab in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Gill, who serves as India's captain in both Test and ODI formats, suffered his injury during the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata, which led to his exclusion from the second Test in Guwahati and the subsequent ODI series.

The selection committee convened on Wednesday to finalize the T20 squad.

The series is set to commence on December 9 in Cuttack, with additional matches scheduled in Chandigarh (December 11), Dharamsala (December 14), Lucknow (December 17), and Ahmedabad (December 19).

Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Indian T20I team as the regular captain.

India squad: 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.