Hardik pandya is going to replace Bhuvaneswar Kumar in the upcoming south Africa tour

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the only player left out from the T20I squad that recently played against West Indies

Hardik Pandya celebrates after dismissing Shoaib Malik for a duck © Getty Images

Hardik Pandya is back in India's 15-man T20I squad that will play three matches against South Africa starting September 15. His addition, in place of fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, is the only change India have made from to squad that recently beat West Indies 3-0.

MS Dhoni misses a second successive T20I series and joining him on the sidelines is Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested from the white-ball leg of the Caribbean tour.The absence of Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah means India will face South Africa with an inexperienced fast bowling line-up - Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed have played only 11 T20Is between them. Though they are without Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav again, the spin department remains well stocked, led by allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and IPL winner Krunal Pandya. Offspinner Washington Sundar and legspinner Rahul Chahar are available for support.

Hardik was rested from the tour of the Caribbean from all three formats, after a long season that included tours of Australia and New Zealand followed by the Indian Premier League and the Men's World Cup. Hardik's workload had been a co kincern for the team ever since he picked up a stress-fracture injury at the Asia Cup last year and the lower-back stiffness that forced him to miss the ODIs against Australia at home in March.

Among the batsmen, Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer keep their spots along with KL Rahul. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and the captain Virat Kohli complete the squad