BCCI announces 15-man squad for ODI series against South Africa

India will host the South Africans for a three-match ODI series is scheduled to be played between March 12 and March 18.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday announced the 15-man squad for the series. Sunil Joshi-led selector panel has picked the team for the first time.

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India's prolific all-rounder Hardik Pandya is back in the squad, he will be making his comeback after he proved his mettle after explosively smashing 46, 105, 38 and 158* in his tenure in the DY Patil T20 tournament. He missed out on action after the 26-year-old underwent lower back surgery last October.

Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar will be coming back after regaining their fitness post injuries.

Rohit Sharma, however, will not be a part of the series as he picked up a calf injury during the T20I series against New Zealand earlier this year. He is likely to make a comeback in the IPL where he will be leading his side Mumbai Indians.

India squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli (Captain), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill.

Earlier, Virat Kohli criticized BCCI for cramped schedule for the Indian cricket team. Men in blue will face Proteas after the drubbing in New Zealand tour. IPL will take place after the South African series.