Hobart, Nov 2 (IANS) Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been released from India’s T20I squad currently in Australia for the five-match series to join the India A side for their second red-ball fixture against South Africa A, said the BCCI on Sunday.

In a statement, the BCCI said the move is aimed at providing Kuldeep with valuable red-ball game time ahead of the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa, starting on November 14 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where he is expected to play a key role.

“The Indian team management has requested to release Kuldeep Yadav from the ongoing T20I series in Australia to allow him to participate in the India A series against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.”

“The decision has been taken to provide Kuldeep with red-ball game time in preparation for the upcoming IDFC First Bank two-match Test series against South Africa,” further said the BCCI.

Kuldeep picked 2-45 in India’s five-wicket loss in the second T20I to Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). He was replaced by Washington Sundar in Sunday’s game at the Bellerive Oval, which India won by five wickets to level the series at 1-1.

He has now added to India A’s squad for the second game against South Africa A, to be held at the BCCI CoE Ground on November 6. India A, led by wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, got a narrow three-wicket win over South Africa A by chasing down 275 in a thrilling fashion.

Kuldeep had finished as the highest wicket taker in India’s 2-0 Test series win over the West Indies in October with 12 wickets from two matches at an average of 19.50, including his best figures of 5-82 coming in the second game in New Delhi.

India’s updated squad for 4th and 5th T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, and Washington Sundar.

India A’s updated squad for 2nd four-day game: Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav.

–IANS

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