NEW DELHI, Dec 16, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Indian pacer Mohammed Shami was ruled out Saturday of the two-Test series against South Africa beginning this month after he failed to regain his fitness, the cricket board said.

Shami, 33, was earlier named in the squad announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the away series but his inclusion was subject to fitness clearance.

"Shami, whose participation in the Test series was subject to fitness has not been cleared by the BCCI Medical Team and the fast bowler is ruled out of the two Tests," BCCI said in a press release.

He played a key role during India's recent World Cup campaign, bagging 24 wickets from seven games to finish as the tournament's highest wicket-taker.

India won 10 games in a row in the tournament before losing the final to Australia.

The BCCI also said that medium pacer Deepak Chahar had withdrawn from the one-day squad due to a family emergency.

He was replaced with Akash Deep, who is already in South Africa as part of the India A side.

Batsman Shreyas Iyer will be available for the first ODI but will skip the remaining two in order the prepare for the Test series, beginning on December 26.

The first game of the three-match ODI series begins in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Captain Rohit Sharma, along with Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin left for South Africa on Friday and are likely to feature in the practice game on December 20-22 in Pretoria.

India's updated ODI squad for South Africa series: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C), Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep.