Axar Patel Ruled Out Of T20I Series Against South Africa: The third match of the ongoing 5-match T20 series between India and South Africa was played on Sunday, December 14, 2025, at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala. In this match, Team India made a brilliant comeback by winning the third T20 International match and took a 2-1 lead in the series. The next match of the series is to be played on Wednesday i.e. 17th December at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, before which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gave an update.

Actually, star all-rounder Akshar Patel is out of the series. Akshar was not available for selection in the playing eleven even in Dharamshala. In the update released by BCCI, it was said that due to ill health, he has been ruled out of the remaining two matches of the series. However, he is with the team in Lucknow, where his further medical checkup will be done.

Shahbaz Ahmed got a chance in Team India

Bengal all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed has been included in Team India in place of Akshar Patel. Before this, Shahbaz has played three ODIs and two T20 Internationals for India, but his last match in blue jersey was against Afghanistan in Hangzhou during the Asian Games in September 2023. He has dismissed two batsmen so far in the T20 format for the Indian team. At the same time, he has not got a chance to bat yet.

No update on Jasprit Bumrah

BCCI has not yet given any update on star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah was not available for team selection in Dharamshala. Because due to personal reasons he had returned to his home. There has been no official update yet regarding his joining the team. At the same time, in the absence of Bumrah, Harshit Rana played the third T20 International.

Indian team for the last two matches against South Africa:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubhman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakraborty, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed.