Ngidi ruled out of India T20Is with ankle sprain, also doubtful for Tests

Lungi Ngidi has been ruled out of the T20Is against India with a left ankle sprain and is also in doubt for the two-match Test series.

Ngidi was due to play in the first two T20Is and then a domestic four-day match starting on December 14 in preparation for the Tests. But he will now be assessed by Cricket South Africa's medical team before a decision is made on his availability for that fixture.

Left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks, who has played 19 T20Is for South Africa but none since July 2021, has been called up as a replacement.

That leaves South Africa without three first-choice bowlers for the T20Is, after Kagiso Rabada was rested for the series and Anrich Nortje was ruled out for the entire tour as he recovers from a lower-back stress fracture. But they still have a strong selection of quicks to pick from. Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Lizaad Williams, Ottniel Baartman and Hendricks, along with allrounders Nandre Burger and Andile Phehlukwayo, are all in the current squad. However, Jansen and Coetzee will be released after the first two games to play red-ball cricket ahead of the Tests.

None of the frontline quicks will play in the ODIs, with Baartman and Williams to lead an attack that includes Burger, Wiaan Mulder and uncapped Mihlali Mpongwana.

South Africa's two experienced spinners, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi, have been included in both white-ball squads with Maharaj also part of the Test set-up.