The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday evening announced the team for the Test series against South Africa. Rishabh Pant returned to the team as vice-captain under the captaincy of Shubman Gill, Akash Deep was also included but once again fast bowler Mohammed Shami was ignored. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on him along with Pant. Shami was seen with selector RP Singh in Ranji Trophy, after which the discussion on him intensified.

Last time, the reason for Mohammed Shami’s exclusion was fitness. Shami is currently playing for Bengal team in Ranji Trophy, where he took 7 wickets against Uttarakhand and 8 wickets against Gujarat. After taking 15 wickets in 2 matches, it seemed that Shami could be included in the Test series against South Africa, but it did not happen.

Gambhir-Agarkar criticized on social media

A fan wrote on social media, “This management is ignoring older players. We have examples of this, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ashwin and now Shami.” Another fan wrote, “There is no place for Mohammed Shami in the Indian team for the South Africa Test! It is difficult to be like Mohammed Shami, he deserves better than this.”

One fan wrote, “Why is Mohammed Shami not in the team? Is his fitness a matter of concern despite all the hard work in Ranji Trophy and other competitions? Could this be the end of Shami playing for India?”

why is @MdShami11 not in the squad?

Is his fitness still a concern even after his hard work in the Ranji Trophy and other competitions?

Could this be the end of Mohammed Shami’s time playing for India?#MohammedShami #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/z2nI0ipjhL

— Rohit Sharma Fan (@hitmanfanfollow) November 5, 2025

No Mohammed Shami for South Africa Tests!

He’s played all three Ranji Trophy games for Bengal this season, picking 15 wickets at 15.53, SR 37.2#Shami #INDvSA

— Vishwa Prakash Yadav (@vishwaprakash09) November 5, 2025

India’s test squad against South Africa

Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper, vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammad Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep.

South Africa will tour India in November to play a 2-Test, 3-ODI and 5-match T20 series. It will start with the Test series, the first match of which will be played at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata between November 14 and November 18. Cricket South Africa has announced its team for the Test series against India.

This will be Shubman Gill’s second home Test series as Test captain, before this Gill and the team had won the 2-match Test series 2-0 at home against West Indies. South Africa ended its last Test series with a 1-1 draw with Pakistan, the first match of which was won by Pakistan and the second by South Africa.

Aiden Markram was handling the captaincy in the absence of Temba Bavuma in the Test series against Pakistan, but Bavuma has returned against India. It was under the captaincy of Bavuma that South Africa won the ICC World Test Championship title this year by defeating Australia in the final.

South Africa Test Squad

Temba Bavuma (captain), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, Zubair Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Ryan Rickelton, Tony De Zorzi, Senuran Muthusamy, Tristan Stubbs. Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Verne, Wiaan Mulder, Simon Harmer.

SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT

The South African Men’s selection panel has announced the 15-player squad for the two-match Test series against India from 14 – 26 November in the subcontinent.

Test captain Temba Bavuma returns to the side after missing the recent Pakistan Test series… pic.twitter.com/dOGTELaXUu

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 27, 2025

South Africa has not won a test series in India for 26 years

This will be the 8th time that South Africa is coming to India to play a Test series, before this the team has come to India 7 times where India has won 4 series and South Africa has won 1 series. 2 series has ended in a draw. South Africa won the last and only Test series on the India tour in 1990, after that the team came to India 5 times to play the Test series but could never win.

India vs South Africa Test Schedule

first test

• date- 14 to 18 November
• Venue- Eden Gardens Stadium, Kolkata
• Time- from 9:30 am

second test

• date- 22 to 26 November
• Venue- Assam Cricket Association Stadium, Guwahati
• Time- from 9:30 am