India vs South Africa: IPL stars dominate new-look Men in Blue squad for T20I series – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

South Africa have sent a full-strength squad for the upcoming T20I series against India, hoping to maintain the winning run against the Men in Blue after defeating them in the Tests and ODIs back home earlier this year.

Team India, on the other hand, will have one eye on building their squad for the T20 World Cup that takes place later this year in Australia besides focusing on winning the series itself. This reflects in the squad picked by the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee.

With several senior players such as captain Rohit Sharma and ex-skipper Virat Kohli — along with primary fast options Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami — rested, the focus now shifts on some of the younger members of the squad, along with rookie players who have been picked on the back on impressive recent performances.

And performances in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) have played a huge role in picking the squad for the five-match series that starts on Thursday, 9 June. Quite a few of those selected are yet to make their appearance in the coveted blue jersey and will hope to kickstart their journey in international cricket in this series.

Take for instance India’s bowling unit; the pace department undergoing a complete overhaul in Bumrah’s and Shami’s absences. Veteran seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been handed the responsibility of leading the attack in the T20Is and, stand-in skipper KL Rahul and the rest of the leadership will be spoilt for choices, with Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel among the choices; all of whom have had superb runs in the IPL.

Malik and Arshdeep were perhaps the most impressive uncapped bowlers in the 15th edition of the cash-rich league, the former for hitting some seriously high numbers on the speed gun and the latter for his terrific death bowling.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Malik had exhibited glimpses of his talent in his three appearances last season but it was in this season that he became a star and a household name across the nation as fans and pundits alike had their eyes glued to the bowling speed in every delivery. Until Lockie Ferguson broke his record in the final at Ahmedabad, the Jammu and Kashmir pacer had bowled the fastest delivery of the tournament (157 kmph), and had even put up a serious challenge for the Purple Cap at one point, ultimately finishing fourth in the bowling charts with 22 wickets to his name.

Arshdeep, on the other hand, was arguably the best death bowler this season, and his economy of 5.66 in the slog overs was hands down the best this season. Not only did Arshdeep work on his accuracy and his execution, as was evident in his ability to nail yorkers on a consistent basis and keep legendary names such as MS Dhoni quiet in tense chases, but he has even improved his fitness and added a yard of pace to become even more effective.

Arshdeep Singh’s economy of 5.66 in the death overs was the best in IPL 2022. Sportzpics for IPL

Besides Malik and Arshdeep, Harshal and Avesh too have made an impact with the ball this season and have been rewarded with spots in the Indian squad as a result. While Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Patel was particularly effective in the death overs, as his game-changing overs in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants would prove, there were few powerplay bowlers than LSG’s Avesh Khan this season. And while Arshdeep was mainly about the economy and execution, both Patel and Khan were among the wickets, collecting 19 and 18 wickets respectively to finish ninth and 11th in the Purple Cap list.

And it’s not the bowling department that is filled with IPL stars — Ruturaj Gaikwad’s already cemented himself as a first-choice opener at the Chennai Super Kings after a remarkable run last year when he won the Orange Cap at the end of the tournament.

Gaikwad didn’t exactly replicate last year’s form but was impressive nonetheless as he finished the highest run-scorer for his side, scoring 368 runs in 14 appearances with three half-centuries to his name, enough to get him a spot in the squad.

A similar case can be made about Lucknow all-rounder Deepak Hooda. Not only did he patch up with Krunal Pandya and melted hearts on social media by hugging it out with a man he had a public spat with not too long ago, but he forced selectors to sit up and take notice of his big-hitting skills in the middle order and ability to finish games for his side.

The 27-year-old batter finished with 451 runs to his name (the 10th highest this season) with an average of 32.21 and four half-centuries to his name and was a central figure in an LSG middle-order that also comprised Marcus Stoinis, Evin Lewis, Jason Holder among others.

And though we’re mainly looking at those who aren’t quite established in the Indian setup and leaving out names such as Rahul, Bhuvneshwar, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya among others, it would be impossible to ignore the impact that the recent IPL has had on Dinesh Karthik’s recall into the Indian team.

The Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter’s last international appearance was in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at Manchester and DK has since taken up a lucrative commentary assignment with Sky Sports among other ventures, leading many to believe his days as an active cricketer were virtually over even if he hadn’t made an official announcement yet.

Dinesh Karthik’s last appearance for India was in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. Image Courtesy: @BCCI

His performances in the RCB middle-order this season, though, dispelled those notions and rekindled his hopes of a final burst in the international scene. Karthik collected 330 runs this season but what stood out was his stunning average (55) and strike rate (183.33).

There were few who hit the ball as cleanly as the 37-year-old veteran and the impact that he had on RCB’s fortunes could be gauged from knocks such as his unbeaten 30 off 8 balls against the Sunrisers — effectively deflating the opposition’s morale by helping the team finish on 192 when a total in the range of 170 looked likely at one stage.

India certainly have a lot of talent at their disposal and rotation will be the key for the skipper as well as coach Rahul Dravid as they look to maintain a winning combination while dishing out as many opportunities to the youngsters as they can. That by no means should take their focus off the primary objective, which would be to avenge their defeats at the hands of the Proteas in what turned out to be a disastrous tour earlier this year.

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