After severe drubbing the hands of New Zealand, Team India will shift their focus to the upcoming home series against South Africa. Meanwhile, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan have returned as India have announced their squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa starting from March 12.
Dharamsala will now host the first ODI on March 12 before Lucknow and Kolkata host the next two games on March 15 and 18 respectively. Dhawan made a return to the squad in place of Rohit Sharma, who is still nursing his injury while Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned to the setup in place of Mohammed Shami, who is being rested.
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On the other hand, Hardik Pandya returns to the first time since September last year. The swashbuckling all-rounder has struck two back-to-back centuries – one of 37 deliveries followed by another in 39 deliveries to set the stage on fire before the upcoming Indian Premier League.
Meanwhile, there were speculations that the selectors might rest Virat Kohli for the series against the Proteas with the Indian Premier League only a few days after the conclusion of the series. But the new selection panel led by former left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi picked a star-studded squad with Kohli at the helm of the side. Meanwhile, they have dropped Mayank Agarwal, who was a part of the ODI series against New Zealand while Shubman Gill has made a comeback.
It will be India's last international series before reunites with their individual franchises for the upcoming IPL starting from March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium.
India's squad for the three-match series against South Africa:
Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill.
