The last time KS Bharat played for India was in the June World Test Championship final matchup with Australia.
India A’s two four-day matches against South Africa A will take place in tandem with the senior side’s tour to the nation later this month, and Andhra wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat will captain the team. The two matches will feature separate squads named by the BCCI on Thursday. The two four-day games will feature Bharat, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Dhruv Jurel, Manav Suthar, and Vidhwath Kaverappa.
The selection of Bengal top-order batsman Easwaran, though, is contingent on his fitness, according to the BCCI.
Bharat, 30, last appeared for India in June during the World Test Championship final matchup with Australia.
The BCCI has also selected one inter-squad for a three-day match scheduled for December 20 to 22. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who will miss the white-ball series against South Africa, are both included in the squad. The second four-day game will take place in Cape Town prior to the second and final Test, which is scheduled to take place from January 3 to 7.
The team also includes players like Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shreyas Iyer.
The inter-squad three-day match will not have a captain named by the BCCI.
Teams: India KS Bharat (C, wk), Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Devdutt Padikkal, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, Pulkit Narang, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, and Tushar Deshpande are the participating squad for the first four-day match.
India A squad for 2nd four-day match: KS Bharat (C, wk), Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa and Navdeep Saini.
India Inter-squad three-day match: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran*, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pulkit Narang, Harshit Rana, Shardul Thakur, Sourabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini.
