Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has refused to give Krunal Pandya another chance to represent the country despite getting the opportunity in the ongoing five-match T20 series. Spin-bowling all-rounder Krunal Pandya had a fantastic IPL 2025 season with RCB.
Pandya continued his form for Baroda in domestic cricket, yet Gautam Gambhir declined the chance to recall the all-rounder from India. Actually, Axar Patel was out of the remaining matches of the T20 series against South Africa due to illness and Pandey would have been the perfect option for him.
Gautam Gambhir ignores Krunal Pandya again despite door opening due to Axar Patel’s injury
Both Krunal Pandya and Axar are slow left-arm orthodox spinners, and are known for their easy batting lower down the order. Nevertheless, the Indian selectors and Gautam Gambhir have included Bengal all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed in place of Axar in India’s T20 squad.
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Axar was part of the playing eleven in the first two T20Is but did not feature in the third match in Dharamshala, giving Kuldeep Yadav a chance to play his part in India’s seven-wicket win over South Africa in the third T20I. Meanwhile, Patel has gone with the team to Lucknow, where the fourth T20 match will be played on Wednesday, December 17.
Akshar Patel ruled out of Proteas T20I due to illness
“Team India all-rounder Axar Patel has been ruled out of the remaining two IDFC First Bank T20Is against South Africa due to illness. However, he is with the team in Lucknow, where he will undergo further medical assessment,” the BCCI said in an official media release.
Before falling ill, Akshar had a mixed performance against South Africa. In the first T20I match in Cuttack, he played a vital role in India’s victory by scoring 23 runs in 21 balls and bowling impressive figures of 2 wickets for 7 runs. In the second T20I in Mullanpur, he took one wicket for 27 runs in three overs. However, in the second T20 match he could score only 21 runs in 21 balls.
India took a surprise decision when Shahbaz Ahmed was named as Axar Patel’s replacement.
Now, Shahbaz Ahmed has been brought in as his replacement despite not being in great form in domestic cricket. “The men’s selection committee has named Shahbaz Ahmed as the replacement for Axar Patel for the T20Is in Lucknow and Ahmedabad,” the BCCI said.
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The 31-year-old spin-bowling all-rounder has so far represented India in five international matches, including three ODIs and two T20Is. The left-arm spinner’s last T20I appearance was in 2023, while his most recent appearance in Indian colors was during the Asian Games in October 2023.
Shahbaz has scored 60 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 133.33, and he has taken four wickets at an economy rate of 8.25 for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025. Despite this, Gautam Gambhir has shown confidence in the Bengal left-arm spinner over proven match-winner Krunal Pandya, who played a key role in RCB’s maiden title win in June 2025.
India’s updated squad for the last two T20Is against South Africa is as follows:
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakraborty, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Ahmed.
After the fourth T20I in Lucknow, both the teams will travel to Ahmedabad for the fifth and final match of the T20I series. India is currently leading the T20 series 2-1 and now Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav will be hoping to win another series.