On the South Africa tour, the Indian team will first play white ball matches and then a two-match Test series (SA vs IND) is to be played. However, India may face a big blow even before the start of the red ball matches, as the chances of leading fast bowler Mohammed Shami playing in the series are slim to none.
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Recently, Cricbuzz had told in one of its reports that Mohammed Shami is suffering from ankle injury and he will not leave for South Africa with the players included in the Test squad. The last batch of Indian players going to South Africa is to leave on Friday, December 15 but Shami will not be seen in it.
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The last batch, apart from captain Rohit Sharma, comprising Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, Navdeep Saini and Harshit Rana will fly to South Africa via Dubai on Friday. Many players are already there for white-ball matches in South Africa and with India A, which is why BCCI has not announced any replacement for Mohammed Shami yet. About 75 Indian players will be present in South Africa.
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BCCI had announced the squad selected for South Africa on November 30 and said that Mohammed Shami’s selection depended on fitness. Shami was suffering from ankle pain but despite this he managed his workload in the World Cup and emerged as the bowler taking the most wickets in the tournament.
Apart from Mohammed Shami, the Indian squad will have the option of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Mukesh Kumar and Prasidh Krishna as fast bowling options.
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Indian squad for South Africa test series
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Shami. *, Jasprit Bumrah (Vice Captain), Prasidh Krishna