According to the latest reports, the top Indian performers in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 like Dinesh Karthik, Umran Malik, and Mohsin Khan will be expected to be selected in Team India for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa at home. Also in fray are Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya to become the Indian skipper.
Team India will be hosting South Africa for a five-match T20I in five different venues which include New Delhi, Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, and Bengaluru. And the BCCI has allowed 100% capacity crowds at these venues.
Given the performances of Indian players in IPL 2022, it has been speculated that many performers might get a chance in the South Africa series. This is also because the BCCI wants to give rest to the first-choice cricketers before the England tour, where India plays one Test and 5 limited-overs matches. A similar squad is also expected to be picked for the two-match T20I series against Ireland later in June.
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According to the latest reports of PTI, emerging stars like Umran Malik and Mohsin Khan could be rewarded for their IPL performances while old-horses Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik are likely to return to the T20 squad when the India squad is picked for the home series against South Africa on Sunday.
Apart from Mohsin Khan, Punjab Kings’ Arshdeep Singh is also in contention given both of the teams are left-handed pacers.
In the batting department, Tilak Varma, who has been the top-scorer for Mumbai Indians is expected to be picked, while Deepak Hooda is most likely to retain his place from the Sri Lanka series. Dinesh Karthik showed great finishing skills for RCB and is expected to make his return to the team since the last played in the 2019 World Cup.
On the bowling front, the form of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav will also be expected to make a comeback. Given that Rohit Sharma will be rested for South Africa and Ireland T20I series, it has been reported that Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya are in the race to captain the Indian team which will be picked for these 7 T20I matches.
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Shikhar Dhawan previously captained India in July 2021 when they toured Sri Lanka for 6 limited-overs matches. India won the ODI series, but lost the T20Is series, mostly due to their squad being infected by COVID-19. All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has not played for India since the T20 World Cup last year, has shown form and fitness in the IPL and is set to be included in the squad for the five-game series beginning June 9.
