Jemimah Rodrigues Returns as India Name South Africa Squads, Explained

Jemimah Rodrigues is back in an India squad. On Monday, 9 November 2026, the BCCI said its women's selection committee had picked the side for an all-format tour of South Africa in December: one Test, three ODIs and three T20Is.

Rodrigues is named in all three. Smriti Mandhana is captain in all three. The note does not give reasons for who is in or out. The detail on injuries, and on why a spinner such as Shreyanka Patil is missing again, comes from match reports, not from the advisory.

The 60-second version

• The list: A BCCI media advisory dated 9 November 2026 names 15 players for the Test, 15 for the ODIs and 17 for the T20Is. The note carries the name of honorary secretary Devajit Saikia.
• Captaincy: Smriti Mandhana captains every squad. Deepti Sharma is vice-captain in the Test and the ODIs. Shafali Verma is vice-captain in the T20Is. Sportstar says this is Mandhana's first Test captaincy.
• Rodrigues: In all three squads. Cricbuzz says a hamstring tear in the Women's Hundred kept her out from August, including the Zimbabwe white-ball games, and that her last India appearance was the Lord's Test in July.
• Amanjot Kaur: T20Is only. ESPNcricinfo says it has learnt she is being eased back after a back injury, and that she has not played for India since February in Australia.
• Renuka Singh Thakur: T20Is only, after missing the recent T20I series against Zimbabwe, ESPNcricinfo says. Shreyanka Patil is still not in the T20I squad.
• Dates: Test on 9 December in Gqeberha. ODIs on 16, 19 and 22 December. T20Is on 26, 29 and 30 December. No start times are in the advisory.

The three squads

These are the lists in the BCCI advisory, in the board's order and spelling. [C] is captain, [VC] is vice-captain, [WK] is wicketkeeper.

Test: Smriti Mandhana [C], Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh [WK], Yastika Bhatia [WK], Deepti Sharma [VC], Sree Charani, Sneh Rana, Kranti Gaud, Nandni Sharma, Jintimani Kalita, Sayali Satghare.

ODI: Smriti Mandhana [C], Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh [WK], Yastika Bhatia [WK], Deepti Sharma [VC], Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Nandni Sharma, Jintimani Kalita, Sayali Satghare.

T20I: Smriti Mandhana [C], Shafali Verma [VC], Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Niki Prasad, Richa Ghosh [WK], G. Kamalini [WK], Anushka Sharma, Deepti Sharma, Sree Charani, Prema Rawat, Amanjot Kaur, Kranti Gaud, Nandni Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Sayali Satghare.

The only difference between the Test and ODI lists is the spinner: Sneh Rana in the Test, Vaishnavi Sharma in the ODIs. The T20I list is larger and different. It has no Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Yastika Bhatia, Sneh Rana or Jintimani Kalita. It adds Niki Prasad, G. Kamalini, Anushka Sharma, Prema Rawat, Amanjot Kaur, Renuka Singh Thakur and Arundhati Reddy.

Harmanpreet Kaur is in every squad. The advisory does not give her a captaincy tag.

Where and when

The advisory's fixture table, which ESPNcricinfo and Cricbuzz both repeat, is:

1. Wednesday, 9 December: Test, Gqeberha.
2. Wednesday, 16 December: 1st ODI, Paarl.
3. Saturday, 19 December: 2nd ODI, Cape Town.
4. Tuesday, 22 December: 3rd ODI, Bloemfontein.
5. Saturday, 26 December: 1st T20I, Benoni.
6. Tuesday, 29 December: 2nd T20I, Potchefstroom.
7. Wednesday, 30 December: 3rd T20I, Potchefstroom.

ESPNcricinfo also reports a 50-over tour match in Benoni on 6 December. That game is not one of the seven rows in the BCCI table. None of these reports gives an IST start time, or a broadcaster.

Who is back, and who is not

Jemimah Rodrigues. Cricinfo's account is that she picked up a hamstring injury in the UK during the Hundred, and that she is now in all three squads. Cricbuzz is more specific about the gap: a hamstring tear, out of action in August, and then absent for the rest of the Hundred, the Women's Asia Cup, the Asian Games and the white-ball series against Zimbabwe. It says her last game for India was the one-off Test against England at Lord's in July. Its caption says this is her return to the T20I setup for the first time since the T20 World Cup. Cricinfo adds that she has already been back in domestic cricket, with a century for Mumbai in the T20s. Neither report gives the date of that innings.

Amanjot Kaur. Sportstar says she returns from injury, in the T20I squad. Cricinfo says the layoff has run since she last played for India in Australia in February, that the injury was to her back, and that the website has learnt she was picked only for the T20Is to ease her back after that injury. The BCCI note itself does not mention it.

Pratika Rawal and Jintimani Kalita. Cricbuzz says Rawal is back in the Test squad after missing the Lord's Test with a knee injury suffered in an India A game in Taunton. It calls Kalita an addition to the Test squad: a 22-year-old right-arm pace bowler from Assam who is uncapped at Test level and who made her ODI debut in the recent series against Zimbabwe. Cricinfo says that, set against the Lord's Test squad, Kalita replaces Renuka, and that Rawal's return means Priya Punia, who had come in for Rawal at Lord's, makes way. The same report says the ODI changes are Rodrigues and Kalita in, Tejal Hasabnis and Renuka out.

The T20I ins and outs. Cricbuzz says that, beside Rodrigues, the additions from the side that played Zimbabwe are Amanjot, Renuka and Sayali Satghare, and that Kalita and Minnu Mani miss out. Cricinfo says Renuka had been left out of that Zimbabwe T20I series and now returns, but only in the shortest format, and that Sayali, who has played Tests and ODIs, is in the T20I squad this time. It also says the Test and ODI pace options are Kranti Gaud, Nandni Sharma, Kalita and Sayali, with Renuka and Arundhati Reddy available in the T20Is instead of Kalita. The BCCI list spells the seamer Nandni Sharma.

Shreyanka Patil. She is not on any of the three lists. Sportstar says she continues to miss out from the T20I side. Cricinfo says it has learnt that the spin already in the T20I squad, Deepti Sharma, Sree Charani and Prema Rawat, left no place for her. Treat that as reporting, not as a published reason from the selectors.

What to watch next

1. The XIs. These are squads. India has not named a playing side for Gqeberha, or for the white-ball games. Fifteen and seventeen are not an eleven.
2. Rodrigues's first match back. The reports agree she is over the hamstring that kept her out of the Zimbabwe series. They do not say which game she will play.
3. Mandhana's first Test as captain. Sportstar and Cricbuzz both flag the 9 December match in Gqeberha as that debut in the role. Deepti Sharma is the vice-captain on the Test list.
4. The 6 December tour game. Only ESPNcricinfo, among the reports read here, lists a 50-over warm-up in Benoni that day. It is worth checking whether the BCCI adds it to the official table.
5. Shreyanka. She is out of the T20I squad again. Nothing in the advisory says the door is shut beyond this tour.
6. Timings. The advisory has dates and cities, not clocks. Start times in IST were not in the BCCI note or in the Cricbuzz, Sportstar or ESPNcricinfo reports used here.

The selection note answers the search that matters this week: Rodrigues is in, Mandhana captains all three formats, and the first ball of the tour, on the BCCI table, is a Test in Gqeberha on 9 December.

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This explainer uses the BCCI media advisory dated 9 November 2026, which carries the name of honorary secretary Devajit Saikia, for the three squad lists, the captain and vice-captain tags, the wicketkeeper tags, the spelling Sree Charani and Nandni Sharma, and the seven fixtures with their weekdays, dates and venues. ESPNcricinfo (published 9 November 2026, 11:57 am, timezone not stated on the page) is the source for Rodrigues's hamstring in the UK during the Hundred, her Mumbai domestic century, Amanjot's layoff since February in Australia, the back injury, the decision to use her only in T20Is, Renuka's absence from the Zimbabwe T20Is and her return in a squad of 17, Kalita replacing Renuka in the Test squad, Rawal's return and Priya Punia making way, the ODI swaps of Rodrigues and Kalita for Tejal Hasabnis and Renuka, the pace and spin combinations, Minnu Mani missing the T20Is, Shreyanka having no place, and the 6 December tour match in Benoni. Cricinfo's lines on Amanjot and Shreyanka are reported as what the site has learnt. Cricbuzz is the source for the August hamstring tear, the tournaments Rodrigues missed, the Lord's Test in July as her last India game, the T20I return since the T20 World Cup, Rawal's knee injury in Taunton, Kalita's age, state, bowling style, ODI debut and uncapped Test status, the T20I additions of Amanjot, Renuka and Sayali, and Mandhana's first Test captaincy. Sportstar (updated 9:06 pm IST on 9 November 2026) is the source for Mandhana leading all three formats, Deepti as deputy in the longer formats, Shafali as T20I vice-captain, the Test squad's similarity to the Lord's party, Rodrigues missing Zimbabwe through injury, Shreyanka continuing to be left out, and Amanjot's return. Where a report goes beyond the BCCI list, it is the report's account.