Middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari, who was omitted from the Test squad for the home series against New Zealand, will travel with the India ‘A’ team to South Africa to gain game time. Vihari was not named in the India ‘A’ squad announced earlier this week, but will now use the three four-day games in South Africa to acclimatise to the conditions. India will play a three-match Test series in South Africa beginning in mid-December.
Vihari, who famously battled injury to save the Sydney Test, was part of the Test squad in England earlier this year but did not get a game.
Ajinkya Rahane was named captain for the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur (November 25 to 29) and will lead a side which will be without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, all of whom have been rested it is presumed. The BCCI did not mention reasons for omission in its statement on Friday but made it clear that Kohli would captain the side for the second Test in Mumbai to be played from December 3 to 7.
ICYMI: Here’s India’s squad for the 2⃣-match #INDvNZ Test series ?#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/gQcaKa1YWS
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 12, 2021
Vihari, however, is not assured of a place in the squad for the series in South Africa and his selection will be purely based on form during his India ‘A’ assignments, a source in the Indian cricket board said.
“It is better to send him to South Africa. The Indian team will be playing in South Africa later this year. If he scores there then he will be picked for the Indian team against South Africa,” a source in the Indian board said.
Here’s the 1⃣4⃣-man India ‘A’ squad for the South Africa tour ? pic.twitter.com/xc5tBNigjo
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 9, 2021
Vihari last played a Test in Sydney where he made 23 off 161 balls despite a hamstring injury that restricted his movements in the middle.
Opportunity for Iyer
Kohli’s absence for the first Test gives an opportunity to Shreyas Iyer in the middle. Iyer is yet to make his Test debut but has played stroke-filled innings in white-ball cricket. The team for the home series has three openers in KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal.
With wicketkeeper Pant not playing, Wriddhiman Saha will be the first choice and his back up will be Andhra’s KS Bharat, who has plenty of First-Class runs under his belt and recently batted up the order for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Medium pacer from Karnataka Prasidh Krishna has also found a place in the Indian Test squad in the absence of Bumrah and Shami. Haryana off-spinner Jayant Yadav, also a useful batsman, has returned to the Test squad which includes R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the spin department.
India’s Test squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vc), Shubman Gill, S Iyer, Wriddiman Saha (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, J Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohd Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
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