Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem has been rewarded for his stupendous show on the domestic circuit with a call-up in the Indian squad after chinaman Kuldeep Yadav was ruled out due to a shoulder injury on the eve of third and final Test match against South Africa.
With the series already in their kitty, Virat Kohli & CO will aim to go for the kill and clean sweep the three-match series when they face a demoralised South African team at the JSCA Stadium, Ranchi.
Nadeem has been a prolific performer for Jharkhand and India A over a period of time. He has had back-to-back 50-plus wicket seasons for Jharkhand.
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The 30-year-old orthodox left-arm spinner has taken 424 wickets in 110 first-class matches with 19 five-wicket and five 10-wicket hauls.
"The decision to add Nadeem was made after Kuldeep Yadav complained of left shoulder pain on Friday," chairman of selectors MSK Prasad was quoted as saying in a BCCI press release.
In 2018, Nadeem was called up in the Indian ODI team for the T20 series against the West Indies at home but did not play a game.
India's squad for 3rd Test: Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shahbaz Nadeem
