Shreyas Iyer, a travelling reserve for India for the upcoming men's T20 World Cup in Australia, has been drafted in as a replacement for the injured Deepak Hooda for the three-T20I series against South Africa starting later today in Thiruvananthapuram.
Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are also out of the series, with the BCCI confirming that they will undergo "conditioning-related work" at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Hooda is also at the NCA for what the BCCI called "further management of his injury".
Hooda, part of India's 15-member T20 World Cup squad, is understood to have picked up a back injury at training during the recent T20I series against Australia. He was unavailable for the series decider in Hyderabad last Sunday as a result.
Arshdeep Singh, who was rested for the three T20Is against Australia, has linked up with the India T20I squad in Thiruvananthapuram.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami misses out as he has just recovered from Covid-19*, and will need to undergo the BCCI's mandated fitness tests before he can be eligible for selection again. Having missed the Australia T20Is, he will miss the South Africa T20Is too. Umesh Yadav, who was named Shami's replacement for the Australia series, has been included in the squad for the T20Is against South Africa.
Shahbaz Ahmed, the uncapped left-arm-spin-bowling allrounder, has been added to the squad too. This will be his second stint with the national team, after he had been called up earlier during the Zimbabwe ODIs in July in place of the injured Washington Sundar.
He heads into the series on the back of a short stint with India A during the home series against New Zealand A. Prior to that, he was part of East Zone's Duleep Trophy squad, where he picked up a five-for and scored a half-century in his team's only appearance in the first-class competition.
1030GMT The copy has been updated to reflect Shami's recovery from Covid.