The mercurial Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not been included in India’s squad for next month’s T20I series against the Proteas.

Seamers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have also not been included in the 15-man party for September’s three T20Is in Dharamsala, Mohali and Bengaluru. All-rounder Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, has been recalled.

The Proteas have named a relatively new-look squad for the limited-overs leg of the tour, which will also feature three Tests.

Batsman Faf du Plessis has not been included, while trio Bjorn Fortuin, Temba Bavuma and Anrich Nortje have been added. All three are uncapped at T20I level.

‘I would like to stress that Faf remains an important part of our plans for white-ball cricket,’ said Cricket South Africa acting director of cricket Corrie van Zyl earlier this month.

‘As far as the T20 squad is concerned, Temba and Bjorn were two of the standout players in the CSA T20 Challenge last season, while Nortje was outstanding in the Mzansi Super League until ruled out by injury.

‘This is very much a form squad with players being rewarded for their consistent performances at franchise level. This applies equally to Junior Dala and Jon-Jon Smuts.’

India squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.

Photo: Gallo Images