Xtra Time Web Desk: It will be a choice between Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya, who will lead the Indian side for the upcoming five match T20I series against South Africa. Many seniors including captain Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are all set to be rested, with an eye on the marquee tour of England in July.
Chetan Sharma led selection committee is also set to give Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant a much-needed break as well from the T20 series against the Proteas. As a part of workload management, all the senior all-format players will not be part of the next seven T20 Internationals. The squad for the SA series is likely to be selected on May 22, the last day of the league phase of this edition of IPL in Mumbai.
Lucknow Super Giants left arm pacer Mohsin Khan could pip Umran Malik in Indian T20 squad. While Umran Malik has generated considerable excitement with his 150 kmph plus pace, there is a feeling that he is too raw and time with the India A team could help him develop better. While he remains in the mix with death overs specialist Arshdeep Singh, the man who is emerging as a ‘Dark Horse’ is Mohsin Khan.
It is understood that most of the players who recently played in the T20 series against Sri Lanka and the West Indies are set to be retained irrespective of their current IPL form. Obviously, Suryakumar Yadav or Ravindra Jadeja’s injury needs to be to be factored in and Deepak Chahar will also not be available. The likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda along with Dhawan and Hardik are set to form the core of the batting unit. Sanju Samson could also be retained and there could be at the max one left field selection in the squad.
In the pace bowling unit, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan are all certainties, along with the IPL’s stellar spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. Kuldeep Yadav is also expected to make the cut.
The T20 series against the Proteas will start in the national capital on June 9 with the remaining matches being held at Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot and Bengaluru respectively.