India pick Gurkeerat, Aravind for S Africa series

Gurkeerat was picked in the squad for the first three One-Day Internationals while Aravind was chosen for the Twenty20 Internationals.

South Africa arrive in India in the last week of September for three T20Is, five ODIs and four Tests.

Gurkeerat, who bowls off-spin, replaced Ravindra Jadeja while leg-spinner Amit Mishra took the place of seamer Dhawal Kulkarni from the full-strength ODI squad that toured Bangladesh.

“Gurkeerat was picked looking at his all-round capabilities,” chief selector Sandeep Patil said after the meeting in Bengaluru. “The demands of the game are such that we need more allrounders.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to captain in the shorter formats after retiring from Test cricket during the tour of Australia last year.

“We have not discussed anything regarding the ODI captaincy,” Patil said. “We are very happy the way Dhoni has led. We have total backing for Dhoni during this series.”

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was picked for the T20 Internationals.

The squad:

T20Is: MS Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra, S Aravind. First three ODIs: MS Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav.