India name T20 squad for SA series

New Delhi - India on Sunday recalled veteran batsman Suresh Raina to their Twenty20 squad for a three-match series in South Africa next month.

The 31-year-old left-hander, who last played a T20 against England in February last year, was included in the 16-member squad led by Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket board said.

The series starts February 18 in Johannesburg (14:30), followed by matches on February 21 in Centurion (18:00) and Cape Town (February 24 at 18:00).

The selectors kept faith with young wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav ahead of seniors Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

India, who lost the Test series against the Proteas 2-1, have six one-day internationals starting February 1 before the T20 games.

India's squad for the T20I series:

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