Ishan Kishan withdrawn from India Test squad for South Africa series; KS Bharat named replacement

New Delhi: Left-handed wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has withdrawn from the India’s Test squad for South Africa series due to personal reasons. In his absence, KS Bharat has been named as the replacement in the squad.

“Ishan Kishan has requested the BCCI to be released from the upcoming Test series against South Africa citing personal reasons. The wicket-keeper has subsequently been withdrawn from the Test squad. The Men’s Selection Committee has named Mr KS Bharat as a replacement,” said the BCCI in its statement.

Kishan had made his Test debut earlier this year in July on the tour of West Indies, where he amassed 78 runs in two matches, including 52 not out in the second innings of the second game at Port of Spain in Trinidad and took five catches as a wicket-keeper.

Bharat, on the other hand, has played in five Tests and amassed 129 runs after making his debut in this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia at Nagpur in February, apart from taking 12 catches and a stumping. He was already in South Africa as captain of India ‘A’ side currently playing four-day games against South Africa ‘A’.

He will also be a part of the intra-squad squad game in Pretoria happening from December 20-22. With Bharat joining the Test squad as one of two wicketkeeping options alongside KL Rahul, India ‘A’ will need a new captain for the third four-day match as its dates for the game against South Africa ‘A’ clash with the first India-South Africa Test at Centurion from December 26-30.

India’s two Tests against South Africa will be played in Centurion from December 26-30 and in Cape Town from January 3-7, 2024. It is India’s second series of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle, after winning the two-Test series in West Indies in July by 1-0.

The last time India played a Test series in South Africa was in December 2021-January 2022. At that time, India won the first Test in Centurion, before South Africa bounced back to win matches in Johannesburg and Cape Town to eventually claim the series 2-1, thus increasing the visitors’ search for a first-ever Test series win in the country.

India’s squad for South Africa Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)

–IANS