Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes Rinku Singh's exclusion from the T20I squad was an obvious move, even if unfortunate, with the return of Hardik Pandya. The Men in Blue announced their 15-member squad for the five-match T20I series at home against South Africa, starting December 9.Rinku was part of the Indian squad for their most recent T20I series in Australia, but played in only one of the five games. However, Hardik was out of the series, dealing with a left quadricep injury that kept him out of action since the 2025 Asia Cup final.Talking about Rinku Singh's exclusion from the T20I squad on his YouTube channel, Pathan said (12:59):"Hardik Pandya is back so Rinku Singh is out. Rinku Singh is unfortunate but this was obvious once Hardik was ready to return. This squad is 90-95% of what India will pick for the 2026 T20 World Cup."Pathan also believes the South African series will offer India the opportunity to set their plans straight for the T20 World Cup next year."India have to clear several things. Whether they go with Bumrah, Hardik and Shivam Dube along with the three spinners, Axar, Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy. But I believe Hardik's role will be the most crucial for India's progress in T20s and in the World cup. Him and one other finisher playing with him, those two will be most crucial for whether India winning the trophy again or not," he stated.Team India has been in incredible T20I form, winning 13 out of their 15 completed matches this year."Middle overs batters and the finishers will be most important" - Irfan PathanIrfan Pathan believes the middle-order batters and the finishers' performances will dictate India's progress in next year's home T20 World Cup. The Asian giants will enter the tournament as the defending champions, having gone undefeated in their title run in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA."It's also important to see if Arshdeep bowls regularly with Bumrah upfront, alongside Hardik as the three fast bowlers. How these three perform will be crucial but the middle overs batters and the finishers will be most important. Because we've seen many players batting out of position several times recently. So this series against South Africa will provide a clear picture on India's batting order plans," said Pathan (via the aforementioned source).Vice-captain Shubman Gill is also back in the Indian squad for the upcoming South African T20I series after missing time with a neck injury suffered in the first Test against the Proteas.