IND vs SA: Dinesh Karthik, Umran Malik, And Mohsin Khan In Selection Foray, Shikhar Dhawan Or Hardik Pandya To Captain India: Reports

If reports are to be believed then the top performers from the ongoing IPL 2022 like Dinesh Karthik, Umran Malik, and Mohsin Khan are in line for the selections into the Indian team for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa at home. Also in fray are Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya for India captaincy.

The Indian team will play a five-match T20I series against South Africa 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 in the Indian Premier League edition 15, 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 players 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 T20s in Ireland later in June.

As per PTI reports, 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 setup when the India squad is picked for the home series against South Africa on Sunday.

Apart from Mohsin Khan, who had impressed during his stint with Lucknow Super Giants, 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 has also attracted a lot of attention, potentially making way for their return.

Shikhar Dhawan And Hardik Pandya In Race For Indian Captaincy For SA And Ireland T20I Series

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.

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. Given how impressively he has led the Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2022, as they became the first team to qualify for the playoffs, he is also in contention for India captaincy.

Also, Hardik returning to bowling his full quota of overs for GT in IPL has been the heartening thing that BCCI would want from him.

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