All-rounder Hardik Pandya, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan have returned from injury to be named in India's squad for this month's ODI series against South Africa.
Opening batsman Rohit Sharma, who has been sidelined by a calf injury, was not named in the squad. Batsman Kedar Jadhav and seamer Mohammed Shami were also not included.
Pandya has not played international cricket since September 2019, but has since recovered from a back injury. India and South Africa will contest three ODIs in Dharamsala, Lucknow and Kolkata.
The series will be followed by the Indian Premier League. The Mumbai Indians are the reigning champions – and are priced at 5.00 by bet365 to win the 2020 IPL.
The Proteas will tour India despite the threat posed by the coronavirus outbreak. Several sporting events around the world, including the Everest Premier League in Nepal, have been postponed or cancelled due to the spread of the virus.
“Cricket South Africa is fully conscious of the risks presented in regard to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and has engaged in a formal risk assessment process to ensure the health and safety of and duty of care to our players and staff,” read a statement from CSA.
“This risk assessment is informed by information provided by international experts, the US Centre for Disease Control, the World Health Organisation, the South African Department of Health and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
“We have also been liaising with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the South African embassy in India and Indian security and risk experts. The government of India has also provided the necessary assurances.
“The Proteas will be traveling to India via Dubai and landing and spending a day in Delhi, then proceeding to play in Dharamsala, Lucknow and Kolkata. None of the playing venues have recorded positive cases and travel between these cities will be via chartered flights reducing the risk even further. The risks in Dubai and Delhi are considered low.
“While the risk remains low, precautionary measures are necessary because of the highly infectious nature of the disease. The team has been appraised of hygiene precautions, avoidance measures, and symptom recognition in addition to being provided with travel kits.
“CSA chief medical officer, doctor Shuaib Manjra will be traveling with the team as team doctor and will keep abreast of developments in India and worldwide and advise CSA and team management accordingly.”
India ODI 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.
