Picture : Twitter / BCCI
With the Tata IPL 2022 over, it is back to the national colours for the Indian players. The Indian cricket team will assemble in Delhi on June 5 ahead of the five-match T20 series against South Africa. The first match of the series begins on June 9 and South Africa will arrive in Delhi on June 2.
There will be no crowd restrictions and there will be no bio-bubble for the series though players will be tested regularly for COVID-19. The other venues are Cuttack (June 12), Visakhapatnam (June 14), Rajkot (June 17) and Bengaluru (June 19).
“The Indian team will assemble here on June 5 while the South Africans land in Delhi on June 2,” DDCA joint secretary Rajan Manchanda told PTI.
K L Rahul will lead the Indian team in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma who has been rested for the series alongside other all format players, including former skipper Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah.
18-member #TeamIndia squad for the upcoming five-match Paytm T20I home series against South Africa.#INDvSA @Paytm pic.twitter.com/tK90uEcMov
— BCCI (@BCCI) May 22, 2022
The Chetan Sharma-led selection committee surprised fans by including Jammu and Kashmir pace sensation Umran Malik along with Punjab left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh in India’s T20 team. The young duo earned their maiden national call-up for South Africa series.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya makes his much-awaited comeback to the Indian squad. Apart from Hardik, other two players who return to team India’s T20 squad are Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Kuldeep Yadav. Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel consists of India’s pace attack with senior pacer Bumrah leading the attack.
