Mumbai | Jagran Sports Desk: The BCCI on Thursday announced the squad for T-20 series against South Africa starting from September 15. All-rounder Hardik Pandya has returned to the squad while veteran wicket-keeper MS Dhoni has not been selected.
In Dhoni's absence, Rishabh Pant is selected as the only wicket-keeper in the team. Apart from Dhoni, first-choice fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have also been rested.
Dhoni has been out of action for the past month-and-a-half after the World Cup during which he also did a fifteen-day stint with the Indian territorial army in his capacity of Hon Lieutenant colonel. He is currently in the USA for a Chennai Super Kings event.
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The current selection committee headed by MSK Prasad "wants to look ahead" and sources in the know of things said that the 38-year-old World Cup-winning former skipper is "not in their scheme of things".
"This selection committee is clear on one front. They will never ask any questions to Dhoni with regards to retirement as that's not their domain. But till they are in charge, they reserve the right to select the squad and as far as they are concerned, Rishabh Pant is now India's first-choice keeper across formats," a senior BCCI official told PTI.
The three-match T20I series begins on September 15 in Dharamsala with subsequent games in Mohali (September 18) and Bengaluru (September 22). This will be followed by a three-Test series beginning on October 2.
The squad is almost similar to the one that blanked the West Indies 3-0 in the previous series in the United States and the Caribbean.
India’s squad for 3 T20Is against South Africa: Virat Kohli(Capt), Rohit Sharma(vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini