India's in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has been recalled to their Twenty20 squad for the upcoming series against England.

Pant did not feature in India's three-match series against Australia last year but has been in supreme form in the longest form of the game.

The 23-year-old has hit half-centuries in each of his last four Tests – two against Australia and two against England – with a high score of 97.

Those performances have seen him return to India's T20 squad and Pant could win his first caps in the short format since January 2020 when Virat Kohli's team take on England over five matches in Ahmedabad, with the series starting on March 12.

Meanwhile, three IPL stars have earned their first call-ups – Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, who hit 173 for Jharkhand on Saturday, and Rahul Tewatia.

Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Varun Chakarvarthy are also included, though Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson and Jasprit Bumrah are not involved in the 19-man selection.

India T20 squad in full:

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Shardul Thakur, Suryakumar Yadav.

Sam Curran has been ruled out of England's plans for the ongoing Test series against India because flying him in for the fourth match would have been too complicated.

It had been intended that Curran would travel to Ahmedabad to be available for what will be England's final Test of the tour, starting on March 4.

But the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Thursday that "making secure arrangements for such a journey proved too great a logistical challenge".

Surrey all-rounder Curran played in both of England's Tests against Sri Lanka in January, but he returned home after the series – alongside Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood – in order to take a break from the team's biosecure bubble.

While Bairstow and Wood have returned to training and are expected to be able to play in the third Test next week, Curran was given extra time off. The 22-year-old, who also represented Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, has spent extended time in team bubbles since July 2020.

England take on India in five Twenty20 internationals and three ODI matches throughout March, and Curran will join members of the limited-overs squad travelling on a charter flight on February 26. He will arrive too late to be considered for the final Test, the ECB indicated.

With no direct flights available from the United Kingdom, Curran would have had to make a stop-over on his way to the Ahmedabad Test. That would have added more risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus, while he would have had to isolate on his arrival in India had any other passenger on his commercial flights returned a positive test.

An ECB spokesman said: "To give Sam the best chance of minimising his risk of exposure to the virus, it was decided to delay his return so that he could travel on the charter flight with the white-ball squad members due to fly on 26 February."

Over 21 Tests with England, Curran has taken 44 wickets for an average of 32.52, while he has 14 limited-overs wickets to his name.

Former South Africa captain Faf Du Plessis has announced his retirement from Test cricket and has revealed his intention to focus on Twenty20s with a view to the upcoming World Cups.

Du Plessis, 36, made the announcement via social media, writing that "my heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter" after 69 Tests for the Proteas.

The right-handed batsman had made 199 for South Africa against Sri Lanka less than two months ago but pressure had been mounting on his place in the Test side in recent years and that was not helped by a lean recent tour of Pakistan.

"It has been a year of refinement in the fire for us all," Du Plessis wrote. "Uncertain were the times, but they brought clarity for me in many respects.

"My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter. It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket.

"If someone had told me 15 years ago, that I would play 69 Test matches for South Africa and captain the side, I wouldn't have believed them. I stand in a place of utmost gratitude for a Test career full of blessings bestowed on me."

Du Plessis, who captained the Proteas at Test level from 2016 to early 2020, finishes his international red-ball career with 4,163 runs at an average of 40.02 with 10 centuries. His 199 against Sri Lanka in December will finish as his highest Test score.

The Pretoria-born batsman added that he intends to continue playing internationally in the shortest format, with T20 World Cups coming up in October-November in India and next year during the same period in Australia.

Du Plessis played all three T20 internationals against England in November and December, making two half-centuries in the series defeat.

He also played for the Chennai Super Kings during the 2020 Indian Premier League, finishing the season as the side's top scorer with 449 runs at 40.81 with a strike rate above 140.

"The next two years are ICC T20 World Cup years," Du Plessis added. "Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be.

"I strongly believe that I have a lot to offer to the Proteas in this format. This does not mean that ODI cricket is no longer in the plans. I'm just making T20 cricket the priority in the short-term.

"I will be in conversation with CSA over the next couple of months on what the future might look like for me over the next year to find a solution that works for both of us."

Mohammad Nawaz and debutant Zahid Mahmood starred as Pakistan held their nerve to a seal a 2-1 Twenty20 series win over South Africa despite the best efforts of David Miller and Tabraiz Shamsi.

The Proteas were rocking at 65-7 and thinking of the plane home, with the brilliant Zahid taking 3-40 and Nawaz 2-13 to leave the tourists in a spin in Lahore.

All-rounder Miller made it a contest by clubbing an electric 85 off just 45 deliveries to steer South Africa to 164-8.

Shamsi's outstanding 4-25 made things even more interesting but ultimately the poor showing from the top order told as Pakistan secured a four-wicket win with eight balls to spare.

South Africa started poorly as Mohammad Nawaz's ripper clipped off Reeza Hendrick's (2) thigh and from his next over more early turn saw JJ Smuts (1) sky one that Babar Azam pouched running back from the ring.

Pite van Biljon (16) struck Hasan Ali for three consecutive fours in the sixth over before trying for one too many and seeing the spinner find a huge gap.

Zahid then came to the fore, Heinrich Klaasen (0) top-edging to short fine leg and Janneman Malan trapped lbw, while Andile Phehlukwayo (0) survived a leg before appeal in the same over.

Phehlukwayo fell to Usman Qadir in the next over and Zahid had a third when Dwaine Pretorius (9) - star of the second T20 - had his middle stump torn up.

It was Miller time from there, though, as South Africa's dangerman single-handedly made it a contest - slapping seven sixes and five fours in a sensational knock.

Miller cleared the ropes a couple of times off Zahid in the 13th over, before unloading for four sixes from the final set off Faheem Ashraf to give Pakistan a genuine chase.

Pakistan were looking pretty serene with a 51-run opening stand between Mohammad Rizwan (42) and Haider Ali (15) but Shamsi's turner left the latter's technique exposed and the same man had the former trapped plumb lbw.

Things became even more tense with Shamsi accounting for Hussain Talat (5) and Asif Ali (7), with Babar's industrious 44 coming to an end between those dismissals.

Faheem fell for 10 as Pakistan's legs wobbled but Nawaz (18) and Hasan (20) steered the hosts over the line, the latter clubbing a six over midwicket to seal the series in style.

Matthew Wade has been dropped from Australia's Test squad for their tour of South Africa, but he will head to New Zealand for a Twenty20 series.

Wade, 33, came under fire for several poor dismissals as Australia suffered a 2-1 series loss to an injury-hit India.

He finished the series with 173 runs at an average of 21.6 and was left out of the squad set to face South Africa, although the tour is subject to a final sign-off.

In what is a similar squad to the one that went down to India, Alex Carey was included with Wade omitted, while Tim Paine remains captain despite criticism.

"The squad is quite similar to that selected for the final two Tests of the recently-completed Border-Gavaskar series, with the exception of Matt Wade, who will join the Australian men's T20I squad in New Zealand, and the addition of Alex Carey, who has been in strong form with both bat and gloves," Australia national selector Trevor Hohns said.

"David Warner, Will Pucovski and Marcus Harris all opened at different stages against India and should be well-suited to the conditions in South Africa. Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were in good form during the Australian summer and Travis Head has an opportunity to reclaim the number five spot.

"We've been very impressed with Cameron Green's first foray into Test cricket as an all-rounder batting at number six and we have great depth with the in-form Moises Henriques also in the squad.

"Tim Paine was excellent at number seven against India and as a batsman, wicketkeeper and captain still has much to offer in the Test arena.

"Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson offer wonderful spin bowling options for South African conditions. Similarly, we like the skill, execution and variation offered by our pace corps of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Sean Abbott and Mark Steketee."

Wade was named in an 18-man T20 squad set to face New Zealand in five matches, beginning on February 22.

Australia Test squad for tour of South Africa: Tim Paine, Pat Cummins, Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

Australia T20 squad for tour of New Zealand: Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.