Former India captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have not been included in the India A squad for the three-match one-day series against South Africa A, which is set to take place from November 13 to 19 at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. A number of white-ball regulars will play in the series as part of India’s preparation for the November 30–December 6 ODI series against South Africa.
In order to get match time, there had been some conjecture that the two mainstays will play in India A matches. It seems, nevertheless, that the senior selection committee has rejected the idea. Whether Rohit and Kohli were contacted or consulted about playing for India A before to the ODI series has not been made clear by the BCCI.
In a three-match ODI series against Australia last month, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made their eagerly anticipated comebacks to international cricket. Rohit was named Player of the Series, while Kohli made two ducks before hitting a fifty in Sydney. With 202 runs in three games, Rohit appeared thinner and fitter, demonstrating a return to peak form and regaining the top spot in the ICC ODI batting rankings.
There has been a lot of speculation regarding Rohit and Kohli’s future and their capacity to stay match-ready now that they are just participating in the ODI format after retiring from Tests and T20Is. The two greats have been asked by a number of experts, including Sunil Gavaskar, to participate in domestic cricket, particularly the Vijay Hazare Trophy, India’s top 50-over domestic competition, which starts in December.
During the ODI series in Australia, captain Shubman Gill stated that neither Rohit nor Kohli had been contacted about their availability for domestic or India A matches.
“Till now there has been no conversation regarding this. There’s not much gap left for the South Africa series. There’s a bit of a gap between the South Africa and New Zealand series. We will have discussions after the South Africa series,” Gill said last month.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy will take place from December 24 to January 18 after the ODI series against South Africa.
From January 11 to 18, India will host a three-match ODI series against New Zealand. There is increasing speculation that Rohit and Kohli might think about playing local cricket to stay match-ready as there are no ODIs planned between the South Africa and New Zealand series before January 2026.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been selected vice-captain of the India A team for the three-match one-day series, while Tilak Varma has been named skipper.
Along with Ishan Kishan and Riyan Parag, the one-day team includes world No. 1 T20I batsman Abhishek Sharma. The team also includes pacers Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshit Rana.
Both the India A team for the one-day series and the team for the two Test matches against South Africa, which begin on November 14, were announced. Prasidh was released for the white-ball series with India A after playing in the last Test series against the West Indies in October.
In addition to vice-captain Rishabh Pant returning from injury, Akash Deep replaced Prasidh in the Test team.
India A squad for one-day series vs South Africa A: Tilak Varma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Prabhsimran Singh (WK)
