The Indian squad has arrived in Thiruvananthapuram to face Temba Bavuma's South Africa team in a three-match T20I series that will begin on September 28 after they defeated Australia in a dramatic 2-1 series.
On Sunday, Bavuma and his teammates arrived in Thiruvananthapuram for the tour, which also includes three ODIs. When taking part in a five-match T20I series in June of this year that finished in a 2-2 draw after the series finale at Bengaluru was cancelled due to rain, South Africa is making its second journey to India.
Bhuvneshwar and Hardik Pandya will travel to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for conditioning-related work, according to the team's announced lineup against South Africa, which is their final bilateral series before travelling to Australia for the Men's T20 World Cup. Arshdeep Singh, who missed the Australia series for the same reasons, is included in the South Africa squad.
Mohammed Shami's availability for the forthcoming T20Is against South Africa, though, is in question. The 2021 Men's T20 World Cup final would be Shami's first T20 International match against Australia. But days before the first T20I in Mohali began, a positive Covid-19 result disqualified him from the entire series, and Umesh Yadav was named in his place.
Umran Malik, a tearaway pacer, has reportedly been requested to be on standby in case Shami is unable to play in the series against South Africa. This is according to a story in Insidesport. Malik, who has represented India in three T20 Internationals since making his debut against Ireland in June of this year, is presently travelling to Chennai to take part in a three-match one-day series against New Zealand A.
Shami is one of four players who will travel to Australia with the primary Indian team for the Men's T20 World Cup as a travelling reserve. India and South Africa will face off in the second and third Twenty20 Internationals following the first T20I in Thiruvananthapuram on October 2 and October 4, respectively.
India squad for South Africa T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.
"I'm not quite up to date on Shami's fitness and the situation right now. The medical staff will be familiar with the specifics "The report cited an unnamed BCCI official as saying.