India T20I squad: Shubman Gill will return for the T20I series subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI's CoE. (BCCI)India squad for T20I series against SA: Shubman Gill will mark his return from a neck spasm injury during the forthcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa, subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, the board confirmed on Wednesday.
Gill had suffered a stiff neck during the first Test against the Proteas at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata last month. Three balls into his first innings, Gill experienced pain on his neck after slog-sweeping a delivery for four. He immediately retired and did not bat in the second innings of a dismal defeat for India at home.
The 26-year-old also missed out on the second Test at Guwahati as India suffered their heaviest Test defeat by 408 runs. The ODI captain was advised rest and recovery and was thereby ruled out of the ongoing three-match series.
India have largely retained the T20I squad that was successful in the T20I series in Australia, with star all-rounder Hardik Pandya returning to the fold after a two-month injury lay-off. Pandya last featured in India’s victorious Asia Cup final against Pakistan and was subsequently out of action due to a left quadricep injury. On Tuesday, Hardik powered Baroda to a 223-run chase in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, smashing an unbeaten 77 off 42 deliveries to seal the chase against Punjab.
The T20I series will begin in Cuttack on December 9, followed by the second match in New Chandigarh on December 11. The third match is scheduled for December 14 at Dharamsala and the 4th one will take place in Lucknow on December 17. The last and final match of the series will take place in Ahmedabad on December 19.
India T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC)*, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar
* Subject to fitness clearance from BCCI COE.
| Sr No. | Day | Date | Time | Match | Venue |
| 1 | Tuesday | 09-Dec-25 | 7:00 PM | 1st T20I | Cuttack |
| 2 | Thursday | 11-Dec-25 | 7:00 PM | 2nd T20I | New Chandigarh |
| 3 | Sunday | 14-Dec-25 | 7:00 PM | 3rd T20I | Dharamsala |
| 4 | Wednesday | 17-Dec-25 | 7:00 PM | 4th T20I | Lucknow |
| 5 | Friday | 19-Dec-25 | 7:00 PM | 5th T20I | Ahmedabad |
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