All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Monday made a comeback to the Indian team for the first two Tests against South Africa, replacing veteran Harbhajan Singh, with the selectors making just one change to the team which won the Test series in Sri Lanka last month.
Off-sponner Ravichandran Ashwin recently suffered a side strain during the first One-Day International against South Africa in Kanpur but is expected to be fit for the four-match Test series.
"We have got a report from the Indian team physio. His fitness test will be conducted on 22nd (October) before the fourth ODI but he will certainly be fit for the Test series," chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil said in New Delhi.
Pacer Ishant Sharma, who will not be able to take part in the first Test against South Africa because of a ICC ban, has also been named in the 16-man squad. The pacer was banned for one match for a breach of International Cricket Council's code of conduct during the Test series in Sri Lanka and will be available for the second Test, to be played in Bangalore.
Jadeja, who was dropped for the Sri Lanka series, forced his way back into the Test squad with some strong performances in domestic cricket. He excelled with both bat and ball for Saurashtra in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, scoring 149 runs at an average of 74.50, while picking up 24 wickets.
The four-Test series begin on November 5, with Mohali, Bangalore, Nagpur and Delhi as the venues respectively.
The selectors made just one change to the ODI squad with Karnataka pacer Sreenath Aravind replacing Umesh Yadav.
India are trailing 1-2 in the ongoing five-match series following their loss in the third match in Rajkot. The remaining two matches will be played in Chennai (October 22) and Mumbai (October 25) respectively.
Patil said the selectors are keenly observing the team's below-par run against the South Africans so far in the ODI series. The hosts lost the T20 series 0-2 and are trailing 1-2 in the ODI series.
"We are concerned. Two selectors who were travelling with the team had a word with the team management and captain. We had a detailed discussion with the captain. It is not a worrying factor. Every time the Indian team does well we feel good, every time it loses we feel bad," Patil said.
"I have been saying that nobody is happy that we lost a game that we should have won. But we still back the team which we have chosen. We still back the ideas and the management and the support staff. We want them to do well. The areas that we wanted to be looked into have been discussed, about which the team management and captain will give a good thought to it," he added.
Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara and K L Rahul will get some much-needed practice ahead of the Test series after being named in the Board President's XI team for the two-day warm-up against the South Africans to be played at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai, from October 30.
India squad for first two Tests vs SA: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (w/k), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, K L Rahul, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.
India ODI squad for last 2 ODIs: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain, w/k), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Axar Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Mohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sreenath Arvind, Stuart Binny, Ambati Rayudu, Gurkeerat Mann Singh.
Board President's XI: Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Unmukt Chand, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer, Naman Ojha (w/k), Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Nathu Singh, Karn Sharma, Sheldon Jackson.
