BCCI announce India squad for South Africa T20I series; Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik gets their maiden India call
The new Indian express speedster, Umran Malik, who playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) picked 21 wickets in 13 fixtures, clocking at an excess of 150 kmph regularly, has earned a place along with Punjab King’s specialist death bowler Arshdeep Singh in India’s 18-member squad for the five-match home T20I series against South Africa, starting on June 9 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Hardik, Karthik return back to the team
Hardik Pandya, who has led Gujarat Titans to the top of the points table in IPL 2022 with his key personal performances has returned to the side along with veteran Dinesh Karthik, who has turned the clock back with his windy batting for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) with 287 runs at a strike rate of 191.33 in IPL 2022.
Pandya was out of the side because of his fitness issues and mostly playing as a batter in the ICC T20I World Cup 2021 but his recent performance with the ball in IPL 2022 where he had 24.3 overs across eight innings to grab few vital wickets at tough phases of the game has paved the way for a smooth return to the national squad.
Read More: IPL 2022: Top 5 Emerging Players: Sen, Umran potential game-breakers; Sharma, Tilak, Lalit promising
Kohli, Rohit and Bumrah get well-deserved rest; Surya, Jadeja miss out on account of injury
Several key players have been rested for the T20Is who will be occupied in preparations for the rescheduled fifth Test of Pataudi Trophy 2021 against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Virat Kohli will not be part of the upcoming T20I series against the Proteas and skipper Rohit Sharma, who deposited just 267 runs in 14 IPL games at an average of just 19.14 and a strike rate of 120.71 in this season to see his Mumbai Indians side finish last on the points table, will also not be a part of the series.
In fact, Kohli, since leaving his T20I captaincy after ICC T20I World Cup 2021, has played just two T20Is. His form too has been poor throughout the season with 309 runs in 14 innings at an average of 23.76 and strike rate of 117.93.
In the bowling department too, Jasprit Bumrah along with Mohammed Shami have been rested before the all important Edgbaston Test against England.
In the injury list, Ravindra Jadeja, who missed the later part of IPL 2022 for CSK with a rib injury, Deepak Chahar who was ruled out from IPL 2022 with a back injury and Suryakumar Yadav, who too had picked up a left forearm injury have missed out from the squad.
India’s T20I squad: KL Rahul (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vc), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel
From the squad that took on Sri Lanka in their T20I series, also in India, in February earlier this year, Mohammed Siraj and Sanju Samson have been left out.
Read More: IPL 2022, India’s Pace Bowling Revolution: Top 5 Bright spots from Kuldeep Sen to Arshdeep Singh
Malik and Arshdeep receive chances
As discussed earlier, Malik and Arshdeep can be the future for India in the shortest format of the game. The former, who has created problems for some high standard batters with his 150+ pace in IPL 2022, can be a good choice for the upcoming ICC T20I World Cup 2022 scheduled to be held in October-November in Australia.
Arshdeep Singh has been excellent in the death overs for Punjab Kings (PBKS). With an economy rate (ER) of 7.31 in the death overs, Arshdeep has been the best bowler in that particular phase, with a cutoff of 150 death over deliveries. His overall economy has been impressive too, pegged at just 7.82 in this season.
Gaikwad, Kishan, Bishnoi hold their place
From the last T20I series against West Indies at home, both openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who will subsequently fly to England, all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, spinners Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi have retained their places.
Seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan too have been selected.
Dhawan, Tripathi, Ashwin neglected
KL Rahul has been assigned leadership duties of the T20I side which sees Shikhar Dhawan, who led India in almost a same situation in Sri Lanka last year, being left out. Dhawan, in IPL 2022, scored 421 runs in 14 games for PBKS at a strike rate 122.74.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who showed his all-round skills for Rajasthan Royals (RR), with 183 runs at a strike rate of 146.40 and hunted 11 wickets at an economy of 7.14, has not been included. Rahul Tripathi, who scored 413 runs in 14 games for SRH, didn’t get a look-in too. Thangarasu Natarajan too, with 18 wickets in 11 innings in IPL 2022 has also been left out.
Read More: IPL 2022, Top Indian Bowlers: Pacers Natarajan, Umran, Khaleel impress besides resurgent ‘Kulcha’
Mayank, Khaleel among notable exclusions
Among the other notable exclusions from India's squad against South Africa for the T20I series, Mayank Agarwal has been shown the doors. It is apparent that selectors while picking a squad most likely have gone for the players who have done well recently. And Punjab Kings captain Agarwal managed to score just 196 runs at an average of 16.33 and a strike rate of 122.5 from 14 games in Tata IPL 2022. Seems like Punjab Kings' captaincy has cost him a place in the Test and T20I side.
Among the bowlers, Khaleel Ahmed is the name that stood out this IPL season. Ahmed has picked 16 wickets from 10 games at an average of 19.68 and economy 8.04.
Khaleel Ahmed has proven to be a backbone for Delhi Capitals this season. Khaleel bowled a fantastic maiden over to current India skipper Rohit Sharma in a game against Mumbai Indians (MI) that took place on May 22.
Khaleel has shown a tremendous control over seam and slow bowling this season. Looking at his current form, he could have been a vital cog in India's set up.
The first T20I will be played in Delhi on June 9 before the series moves to Cuttack on June 12. The third and fourth game will be on June 14 in Visakhapatnam and June 17 in Rajkot, respectively. The series will end with the fifth T20I being played on June 19 in Bengaluru.
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