New Delhi: The Board for Control of Cricket in India unveiled the most awaited squad for the upcoming South Africa T20 series on Sunday. The board confirmed KL Rahul as the series captain and Rishabh Pant as the vice-captain, putting an end to any conjecture over the squad.
The group appears quite similar to the one that faced Sri Lanka earlier this year, since the selectors did not seem to be convinced with the players’ IPL form.
Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kishan, Rituraj Gaikwad, and Shreyas Iyer were among the players retained from the Sri Lankan team.
Dinesh Karthik has been in terrific form as a finisher for Royal Challengers Bangalore and has been included in the squad for showing great form with the bat. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, who has recovered his full fitness and is bowling again, has also been recalled. Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel have been selected in the spin department.
18-member #TeamIndia squad for the upcoming five-match Paytm T20I home series against South Africa.#INDvSA @Paytm pic.twitter.com/tK90uEcMov
— BCCI (@BCCI) May 22, 2022
Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh have been selected for the first time in the Indian pace department. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has kept his place in the team, while Harshal Patel has also been selected.
Senior hitters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, as well as bowler Jasprit Bumrah, have been spared from the series, as expected.
T20I Squad – KL Rahul (Capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(VC) (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
