Hanuma Vihari added to India A squad for South Africa tour

Andhra batter Hanuma Vihari has been added to the India A squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa. India A are scheduled to play three four-day games, starting November 23 in Bloemfontein.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took to social media to update the same. Sharing a picture of Hanuma Vihari, they wrote:

"UPDATE: @Hanumavihari has been added to the India 'A' squad for the South Africa tour."

The Priyank Panchal-led squad boasts the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Baba Aparajith and Sarfaraz Khan, who will fight out for a place in the playing XI.

The three-match series will commence on November 23 followed by games on November 29 and December 6 respectively. The selectors will have their eyes firmly placed on the three matches with India scheduled to travel to South Africa next month.

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Hanuma Vihari dropped from India squad for New Zealand Tests

The All India Senior Selection Committee named a 16-member squad for the upcoming two-match series against New Zealand, starting November 25 in Kanpur. The Chetan Sharma-led panel shockingly left out Hanuma Vihari, who last played a Test match in Australia earlier this year.

Vihari was involved in a match-saving partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin in Adelaide before being left out of playing XI due to an injury. He was also a part of the Test series against England but didn't get game time.

With Virat Kohli opting out of the first Test, the decision to leave out Hanuma Vihari looks a bit harsh. Out of his 12 Tests, Vihari has now played only one Test at home way back in 2019.

India squad for New Zealand series: Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.