MS Dhoni Not Picked, Hardik Returns As India Announce Squad For South Africa T20s

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

The BCCI on Thursday announced a 15-men squad for the upcoming T20I series at home against South Africa. The committee of selectors has decided to go with the same bunch of players that thumped West Indies in recently concluded 3-match series. In addition, all-rounder Hardik Pandya has returned to the setup who missed the Caribbean series due to back injury. However, the selectors have once again excluded Dhoni who had taken a two-month sabbatical from the sport. The former Indian skipper is currently vacationing in the United States after having served the Territorial Army for 15 days. It couldn't be ascertained whether the selectors spoke to Dhoni about his availability for the home series against South Africa. 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. Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only player left out as a part of the workload management programme. India's squad for 3 T20Is against South Africa: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, 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