The Indian team will host South Africa for a five-match T20I series in June this year. Reportedly, the Indian squad for the series will be announced on the day of the Indian T20 League 2022 final, i.e May 29. Meanwhile, another report suggests that a lot of senior players will be rested for the home series. These players include the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, etc.
Currently, these players are playing for their respective franchises in the Indian T20 League. One of the sources of the Indian Cricket Board has said that these players will be rested for the series and will fly to England ahead of the one-off Test, followed by the white-ball series. He said that the team needs these players to be fresh for the England series.
“All the senior India players will get at least three and half weeks of complete rest. Rohit, Virat, KL, Rishabh, and Jasprit will all directly go to England for the ‘fifth Test’ following the white-ball series. We need all our key players to remain fresh for the England series,” a senior BCCI source privy to the development was quoted as saying by News18.com on the condition of anonymity.
The source added that the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya might lead the team against the Proteas. He said that Pandya’s captaincy for Gujarat hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“The selectors have a couple of choices. Shikhar Dhawan, as he has already captained India in absence of Virat, Rohit and Rahul during last year’s Sri Lanka series. But Hardik Pandya’s impressive captaincy for Gujarat Titans hasn’t gone unnoticed. So it will be a close call,” he added.
He further added that the likes of Umran Malik, Mohsin Khan, Arshdeep Singh might get a chance, although the selectors aren’t keen on too much experimentation.
“Our pace bowling department is set and selectors might not experiment too much,” he said.
“But yes, Mohsin has impressed almost everyone with his pace, bounce and swing in this edition. He does have a chance. Having said that, not ruling out Umran or Arshdeep either, but Mohsin might just be slightly ahead,” he added.
