New Delhi, September 12: Out-of-form opener Lokesh Rahul has been excluded while rookie Shubman Gill has received his maiden call-up for the upcoming three-Test series against South Africa starting October 2.

Rahul has not been able to score runs in recent times. Even in the two-Test series against the West Indies, he managed scores of 44, 38, 13 and 6. He hasn't managed a 50+ score since his 149 against England at the Oval some twelve innings back. India vs South Africa 2019: KL Rahul Dropped, Shubman Gill Gets Maiden Test Call-Up as BCCI Announces India Squad for Test Series.

BCCI chief selector M.S.K. Prasad had earlier acknowledged that Rahul's form in Tests was a cause of concern for the team and that the board might have limited-over opener Rohit Sharma to open the innings in the five-day format as well.

Meanwhile, Gill has received his maiden Test call owing to his great run in recent times. Gill scored 90 and 5 in the first unofficial Test against South Africa A that concluded on Thursday to boost his chances.

Pacer Umesh Yadav has also been dropped from the squad that recently beat the West Indies 2-0 in the away series.

The first Test against South Africa will be played in Visakhapatnam from October 2 before the teams travel to Pune for the second Test from October 10. The final match of the series will be played in Ranchi from October 19.

Squad:

Virat Kohli (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2019 05:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).