The selectors have also dropped KL Rahul from the Indian squad with the chief selector MSK Prasad confirming that Rohit Sharma will take over the opening role during the series.
Gill, who has played in 14 first-class matches, averages more than 72 in that format. He had played two ODIs on the tour of New Zealand before the 2019 World Cup but scored a total of just 16 runs and was dropped.
However, with a string of big scores for India A, his selection was always on the radar. The other players who were in line for a call-up were Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyank Panchal, both openers but Gill has pipped them to the post. That said, Gill will need to wait his chance because Rohit has been named as a first-choice opener.
Rohit Sharma’s start-stop Test career saw him amass two centuries in the first two innings of his Test career against West Indies, but since then he has made just one more 100 over his next 25 Tests. Rohit averages 33.25 in those 25 Tests and has often lost his place in the middle-order, more recently to Hanuma Vihari.
The rest of the squad is on expected lines but there is no place for either Hardik Pandya or Umesh Yadav. Pandya has been India’s go-to all-rounder in recent times but he missed the Australia tour after he was suspended by the BCCI for disciplinary reasons. With R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja expected to do bulk of the bowling, and with their recent batting form expected to ensure the lower-order batting is bolstered, Pandya seems to be superfluous to India’s requirement at home.
South Africa will take on India in a three-match T20I series which will be followed by the three Tests.
India squad for South Africa Tests:
Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant (WK), Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma