Cricket South Africa has announced the squads for their India tour comprising T20s, ODIs and Test matches, all in one go. Faf Du Plessis will be leading the T20 side, Ab de Villiers will be captaining the ODI team and Hashim Amla will be donning the captain's hat in the longer format of the game.
De Villiers, who did not play in the Test match against Bangladesh due to personal reasons earlier this year, has been included in the Test side once again. De Villiers will be one of their key men in this energy-sapping tour of India starting from 2 October.
Imran Tahir and Dane Piedt have been added to the Test side along with incumbent spinner Simon Harmer.
Another player, Eddie Leie, impressed with his leg-breaks during the T20 series against Bangladesh in the sub-continent. As a result, he too has made the cut for the T20 series against India.
Quinton De Kock is not there in the Test side. Dane Vilas has been chosen over him. Vilas had his chance of impressing the selectors in the Bangladesh tour but relentless rains screwed that opportunity.
"We want to keep all our options open for the Test Series," commented CSA selection convener, Linda Zondi.
"We also have JP Duminy as an option in this department and I believe we have covered all our bases by having both holding and attacking spin options in our squad. It is good to have Dane back from his injury and Imran was our No. 1 spinner for our last Test series on the sub-continent against Sri Lanka."
South Africa squads for tour of India 2015:
Test Squad: Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Temba Bavuma, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Simon Harmer, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel. Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Stiaan van Zyl, Dane Vilas.
ODI Squad: AB de Villiers (c), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw and Dale Steyn.
T20 Squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Marchant de Lange, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Eddie Leie, David Miller, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, David Wiese and Khaya Zondo.
