South Africa have named a 15-man squad for November 2025’s Test series against India.
Captain Temba Bavuma, who missed the recent Test series against Pakistan due to injury, has returned. Batsman David Bedingham has been omitted.
“The guys that did duty in Pakistan in the Test matches have shown what they’re capable of, and a case can be made for all of them to be re-selected,” said Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad.
“The reason why they got selected ahead of David was because I feel that in these conditions they’ll be more effective. It doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the road for David.
“It wasn’t so long ago that he was one of our star performers at Lord’s so really horses for courses. For what we’re potentially going to face, I believe the guys that we got are ahead of David in that respect.
“You leave a player out and it’s never easy, especially if they’ve done as well as they have done. But again, I’ve got to take the emotion out of all of it.
“We’ve made some tough decisions along the way so every time you make a decision like that, it’s particularly tough, but you’ve got to take the emotion out of it.
“You basically look at the raw facts and say, ‘right, what do we believe is going to be effective on these surfaces? And who best to stack up against said opposition on those surfaces,’ you know?
“And look, in eight months’ time, however long, when we play a Test match back home again, I’m sure David will be in that line-up. But purely for Pakistan and India, what we’re expecting, the guys that we’ve selected, we believe, are better equipped.”
Spinners Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy have been retained alongside batsmen Dewald Brevis and Zubayr Hamza. Spinner Prenelan Subrayen has been excluded.
“Hamza was close to playing in Pakistan when we considered balance of side and he is the next batter up. In these conditions, I must continually add that, in these conditions, we’ve always said that everything we do is conditions-based and condition-specific,” added Conrad.
India and South Africa will contest two Tests in Kolkata and Guwahati. Three ODIs and five T20Is will follow.
South Africa squad for India Tests
- Temba Bavuma (captain)
- Aiden Markram
- Ryan Rickelton
- Tristan Stubbs
- Kyle Verreynne
- Dewald Brevis
- Zubayr Hamza
- Tony de Zorzi
- Corbin Bosch
- Wiaan Mulder
- Marco Jansen
- Keshav Maharaj
- Senuran Muthusamy
- Kagiso Rabada
- Simon Harmer