Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has picked India’s best XI for the first T20I against South Africa that will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on June 9. However, he has excluded a couple of players and one of which indeed happens to be a surprising one. Batting all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer found no place in his XI, but more importantly, an in-form Dinesh Karthik has also been excluded.
While selecting his team, Ravi Shastri picked the stand-in skipper, KL Rahul, and CSK batter, Ruturaj Gaikwad to open the innings and also went on to include Hardik Pandya, who had an outstanding IPL 2022, where he not only led the Gujarat Titans to a memorable title triumph but also showcased his all-round abilities by making the bat and the ball do the talking.
ALSO READ: Dwaine Pretorius Shares The Learnings He Had While Playing With MS Dhoni
During a chat on Star Sports’ Game Plan, Ravi Shastri said, “I think they will go with the guys they will want to see first – the Rahuls, the Ruturaj Gaikwads – maybe they will open. They will probably give Ishan (Kishan) a break in this game or bat him at three. If you bat him (Ishan) at three, then it will be Shreyas (Iyer) at No. 4, (Rishabh) Pant at No. 5, and Hardik (Pandya) at No. 6.”
In the bowling department, Ravi Shastri picked the likes of Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Yuzvendra Chahal, and was spoiled for choices between Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik and completed the list by picking death over specialist Harshal Patel.
ALSO READ: Umran Malik Reveals His Idols From The Indian Team
The selectors have decided to rest some of the stalwarts like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah as a part of the workload management, taking a jam-packed calendar into consideration that also includes the Asia Cup, and the T20 World Cup in Australia. The Men in Blue would be eager to avenge the away ODI series whitewash against the Proteas earlier this year.
Ravi Shastri’s India XI: KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh/Umran Malik, Harshal Patel.
