Suryakumar Yadav to lead India in T20I series against South Africa; Hardik Pandya returns, Rinku Singh dropped

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], December 3 (ANI): The Senior Men's Selection Committee of BCCI has announced India's squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa, starting December 9 in Cuttack.
Suryakumar Yadav will lead Team India, whereas all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who missed the away T20I series against Australia, has made his return to the side.
Pandya will play his first international T20I since India's Super Four fixture against Sri Lanka at the Asia Cup 2025 in September. Pandya missed out on the Asia Cup 2025 final against Pakistan (which India won) and the Australia white-ball tour due to injury.
Recently, the Indian all-rounder Pandya proved his fitness while playing for Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Tuesday.
Rinku Singh, who was part of the squad for Australia's T20Is, has been dropped from the side for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa.
Shubman Gill, who suffered a neck injury during the first Test of the two-match Test series against South Africa in Kolkata, has been included in the squad after missing the second Test and three-match ODI series due to injury.
However, Gill needs to obtain his fitness clearance from BCCI's Centre of Excellence (COE) to participate in the five-match T20I series against the Proteas at home.
The Men in Blue will play the first T20I of the five-game series against the Proteas on December 9 in Cuttack. Mullanpur will host the second T20I between India and South Africa on December 11. The third T20I will be played at Dharamsala on December 14, followed by the fourth on December 17 in Lucknow.
Ahmedabad will host the fifth and final match of the series on December 19.
Earlier, South Africa whitewashed Team India 2-0 in the two-match Test series. India are leading the three-match ODI series 1-0.
India squad for T20I series against South Africa: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain)*, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar.
Note: * Subject to fitness clearance from BCCI COE. (ANI)