By Admin 
Axar Patel has been dropped from the last 2 matches of India vs South Africa T20 series. Earlier, the third T20 was played in Dharamshala on 14 December, in that too Axar Patel was not a part of the playing eleven. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that Patel has been ruled out of the remaining matches of the series due to illness.
Updated squad of Indian team: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakraborty, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed.
🚨 NEWS 🚨#TeamIndia allrounder, Axar Patel has been ruled out of the remaining two @IDFCFIRSTBank T20Is against South Africa due to illness.
🔽 Details | #INDvSA , @akshar2026 https://t.co/CZja7iaLNm
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 15, 2025
Akshar Patel is out
BCCI has issued an official statement saying that Axar Patel is being dropped from the fourth and fifth T20 against South Africa. This decision has been taken due to Patel being ill. Shahbaz Ahmed has been included in Team India as a replacement for Akshar Patel for the fourth and fifth T20 matches.
The fourth T20 match between India and South Africa will be played in Lucknow on 17 December. The fifth and final match of the series will be played on December 19 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. After completion of three matches, the Indian team is leading 2-1 in the series.
Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah had returned home due to personal reasons, hence he did not play the third match in Dharamshala. The good news for Team India is that Bumrah has been included in the Team India squad for the last 2 matches.
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