India vs South Africa: Limping Shikhar 'Gabbar' Dhawan out of first Test

In a major setback for Indian cricket fans, Team India's explosive opener Shikhar Dhawan has dropped out of the first Test against Sri Lanka starting on January 5. Guests will play 3 Tests, 6 ODIs and 3 T20 matches against India South Africa. The Test will take place from January 5 to January 28 in the 56-day tour, while the ODI and T20 series will be played between February 1-21.

In place of Shikhar Dhawan, responsibility can be handed over to Murali Vijay and KL Rahul as Dhawan is unfit due to an ankle injury.

At the same time after taking a long break from cricket due to the marriage, Virat Kohli will make his return in this series. He missed out the matches of the limited overs against Sri Lanka. This tour can be considered as the test for Kohli as a full time captain.

Significantly, Dhawan has scored 4038 runs in 96 ODIs at an average of 44.87, including 12 centuries and 23 half centuries. In 28 Tests, he has scored 2014 runs at an average of 43.78 runs. He has scored 3 half-centuries in 28 matches with a strike rate of 118.3.

India squad for SA Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah

India squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Basil Thampi, Jaydev Unadkat