Hardik returns, Sanju retained, Harshit Rana remains as India’s T20I squad out

Sanju Samson has retained his place in India's squad for the five-match T20I series against South Africa, starting December 9.

The Kerala wicketkeeper batter featured in the away series against Australia in October-November, which India won 2-1. Jitesh Sharma, who featured prominently in the Australia series, is also part of the squad.

Ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya is back in the side, while Harshit Rana has retained his place. Pandya had suffered an injury during the Asia Cup in September. ‘India's Test captain Shubman Gill, who is yet to recover from a neck injury, has been included in the 15-member squad announced by the BCCI on Wednesday. The BCCI said Gill's participation in the series is subject to clearance from the experts at the Centre of Excellence.

Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy and Washington Sundar are the four spinners in the squad.

The series opener will be played at Cuttack before action moves to New Chandigarh (Dec 11), followed by Dharamsala (Dec 14), Lucknow (Dec 17) and Ahmedabad (Dec 19).

Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar