Kuldeep to return home to prepare for SA Tests

Kuldeep Yadav won't be part of India's remaining two T20Is against Australia as he has been released from the squad, with the team management prioritising red-ball preparations for the left-arm wrist spinner.

Kuldeep will join the India A team to take part in the second unofficial Test against South Africa A that begins at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on November 6 as part of preparations for India's two-Test series against current WTC champions South Africa. India's first Test against South Africa starts on November 14 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata while the second Test will be played from November 22 in Guwahati.

Kuldeep was also not part of the Indian eleven in their series-levelling victory in the third T20I in Hobart. His Test appearances have been limited - he did not feature in the playing XI during the five-Test series in England and had last played a Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru in October 2024 before the recent two-Test series against West Indies in which he picked up 12 wickets, including a fifer.

Kuldeep will join several Test regulars who are also part of the India A team for the second four-day game.

Rishabh Pant, who made a comeback to active cricket following his foot injury in England, led the team in the first four-day game which India won by 3 wickets, with Pant scoring 90 in the second innings. He will lead again in the second match while Sai Sudharsan, who also featured in the first match, is part of the squad for the second game.

KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Devdutt Padikkal are the other Test players who will be part of the India A squad for the second unofficial Test.

India A's updated squad for 2nd four-day game: Rishabh Pant (c & wk), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sai Sudharsan (vc), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav .

India's updated squad for 4th and 5th T20I: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (vc), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.