Indian cricket arrived in Durban for the multi-format South Africa tour on Wednesday but star players Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja reportedly missed the flight. Both players are expected to join the camp before the start of the first T20I match on December 10.
Both Gill and Jadeja were rested for the T20I series against Australia after the conclusion of the ICC World Cup 2023. But the star duo is part of T20I and Test squads for the upcoming South Africa series and will join the team later. According to a report from Cricbuzz, Jadeja has been on a Europe tour and Gill is enjoying his holidays in the UK. Both players will arrive in Durban directly and are expected to be part of the playing eleven of the opening game at Kingsmead.
Meanwhile, Deepak Chahar is also flying late for the South Africa series. The Chennai Super Kings bowler left the Australia T20I series due to a family medical emergency and missed the last game. Chahar is part of both T20I and ODI squads for the South Africa series and is tipped to join the team on time.
A similar report also adds that all three players have taken permission from the BCCI to join the team late. Due to three various teams under different captains, the BCCI is also sending two selectors SS Das and Salil Ankola on the South Africa tour.
The Indian team will hold their first practice session on Friday at the Kingsmead. The three-match T20I series will be played from December 10 to December 14 and then KL Rahul will lead the team in ODIs starting from December 17. Captain Rohit Sharma and senior players Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah will return for the Test series starting on Boxing Day at Centurion.
India’s T20I squad for South Africa: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vc), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar
India’s ODI squad for South Africa: Ruturaj Gaikwad, B Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (c & wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar
India’s Test squad for South Africa: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Prasidh Krishna.