Hardik Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar Set To Be Recalled For South Africa ODIs

India’s new-look selection panel’s first assignment will be to announce the squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa. The series gets underway on March 12 in Dharamsala before Lucknow and Kolkata host the next two games on March 15 and 18 respectively.

Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh are the two new members of the panel, replacing MSK Prasad and Gagan Khoda. According to The Hindu, Joshi’s first meeting as the selection committee chairman is likely to be more of an injury update as the selectors will take a stock of three sidelined players who have made a strong comeback this week during the DY Patil T20 tournament in Navi Mumbai.

Hardik Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have all represented Reliance 1 in the tournament. The report further claimed that all the three players are set to be recalled for the South Africa series after recovering from their respective injuries.

Inevitable:

Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s return to the ODI squad is all but inevitable with Rohit Sharma injured and Mohammed Shami set to be rested. However, there is not that much clarity on Hardik Pandya who has not played for India since September owing to a back injury.

The allrounder’s return will depend on the fitness update on his back. The rejigged selection panel is likely to test his fitness ahead of a rigorous IPL. Pandya, nonetheless, took the DY Patil T20 tournament by storm. While Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar looked rusty, Pandya was on song.

After scoring a 39-ball 101 and picking up five wickets in a match earlier in the week, the swashbuckling allrounder blasted a 58-ball 158 (6×4, 20×6) against Shreyas Iyer-led Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) on Friday. The way he batted and bowled in the tournament, he looked fit and is very much expected to be in the squad for the South Africa series.

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