Raina makes comeback to T20I squad for South Africa series

Mumbai, Jan 28 - Batsman Suresh Raina made his comeback to the Indian Twenty20 cricket squad after being named on Sunday for the away series against South Africa.

The 31-year-old Uttar Pradesh batsman had a very good outing at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy domestic T20, scoring 314 runs at a strike-rate of 146.04.

The left-handed batsman had last played for the Indian team in the three-match series win over England in January-February.

Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer was not included in the 16-man squad.

Basil Thampi, Deepak Hooda, Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar -- who were in the squad for the Sri Lanka series at home -- have not been named. Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had been rested in that home series.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel and pacer Shardul Thakur have also returned to the squad.

The T20Is begin with the first game in Johannesburg on February 18. Prior to the series, India and South Africa will play a six-match One-Day International (ODI) series, which begins on February 1.

Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain) Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur.

---

IANS