Suresh Raina was called back to India’s Twenty20 squad for the three-match series against South Africa next month on the back of a good domestic season. Raina last played for India during the T20 series against England last February.
The 31-year-old had a good outing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Uttar Pradesh, scoring 314 runs in nine matches, which included an unbeaten century and two fifties. Raina also recently passed the Yo-Yo fitness test, which has become a pre-requisite for being picked in the national squad.
All-rounder Axar Patel and pacer Shardul Thakur also returned to the T20 squad after missing out the Sri Lanka series. Shreyas Iyer did not find a place, as didn’t Washington Sundar and Mohammed Siraj.
Virat Kohli leads the 16-man squad, which includes regulars MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. The T20I series will be played after the six-match One-Day International series beginning Thursday gets over.
India squad for T20I series:
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur.
