The countdown has started for the selection of the Indian team for the three-Test series in South Africa to be played from January 2 to January 28 next year. The BCCI’s acting Secretary, Amitabh Choudhary has convened the selection committee in Nagpur on Monday evening.
With off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja returning to the Indian team for the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka and Murali Vijay, also cracking a century here on Saturday and proving that all is well with his right wrist, the three-man selection committee in M.S.K.Prasad, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh and the captain Virat Kohli would have a clear idea of the likely squad for the first part of the tour to South Africa.
The three Tests will be played at Newlands, Cape Town (Jauary 5 to 9), Centurion (January 13-17) and The Wanderers, Johannesburg (January 24-28).
What will also be known on Monday is whether Kohli will be available for the third Test, three ODIs and as many Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka. There has been hints from BCCI quarters that he will be given a break.
Hardik Pandya, who has been given a complete break from the three-Test series against Sri Lanka in order to prevent niggles from aggravating into an injury type situation, is likely to be recalled for the ODI and Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka. The idea was to keep him fresh for the challenges in South Africa.
Dhawan will be back in the squad for the third Test against Sri Lanka in New Delhi and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who married recently, are automatic choices for the tour to Southern hemisphere. Vijay Shankar is a replacement in the team for the second Test here and readied as a contingency plan should an all-rounder getting injured in South Africa and he is not expected to figure in the first 16 member squad.
The selection committee will also announce the Indian team for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka (New Delhi, Deember.2 to 6), three ODISs (Dharamsala, December 10, Mohali, December 13 and Visakhapatnam, December 17) and three Twenty20s (Cuttack, December 20, Indore, December 22 and Mumbai, December 24).
