Who is Mukesh Kumar? All you need to know about Team India’s new pace bowler for South Africa ODI series

On Sunday, Indian management announced a 16-man squad for the forthcoming ODI home series against South Africa. The major news from the team selection was pacer Mukesh Kumar’s and Rajat Patidar’s first ODI call-ups for South Africa. Shikhar Dhawan will continue to captain the team, with Shreyas Iyer serving as his deputy for the duration of the series.

India and South Africa are currently playing a three-match T20I series, followed by a three-match ODI series. With the T20 World Cup 2022 set to begin on October 16, Indian management has provided opportunities to promising young players such as Mukesh and Patidar.

Mukesh, a 28-year-old right-arm pacer, is an unexpected name for many people. He is now competing in the Irani Trophy 2022. He was exceptional against New Zealand A last month when playing for Rest of India, taking four wickets in the first innings to bowl Saurashtra out for 98 runs on Day 1.

The 28-year-old Bengal domestic cricketer made his first-class debut in October 2015. In January 2016, he made his T20 debut against Gujarat, and in December 2015, he made his List A debut against Uttar Pradesh. In List A, he has 17 wickets at an average of 44 from 18 matches.

His best outings have come in First Class cricket, with 109 wickets in just 30 matches (52 innings) at an impressive average of 22.50 and an economy rate of 2.75 so far.

He took nine wickets in three unofficial four-day matches against New Zealand A last month.

Mukesh was Bengal’s joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy season with 20 wickets in just nine innings.

India’s ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Rajat Patidar, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar

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