After the outcome from IPL 2022, the attettion of cricket fans in India now turns to the upcoming five-match T20I 2022 between India and South Africa. In this series, there are some highlights that we can expect to make sparks.
Highlights of Team India
Some of the biggest Indian names like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohd Shami and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested to take a break before getting ready for the England tour. KL Rahul has been named the captain while Rishabh Pant has been picked as the vice-captain.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s tearaway pacer Umran Malik and Punjab Kings’ crafty medium pacer Arshdeep Singh are the new and exciting inclusions in the squad. Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik, after brilliant IPL campaigns, have found a way back in the limited-overs set-up.
Speaking of Hardik Pandya, we may not forget his performance in IPL 2022, as he led Gujarat Titans to the title in the franchise’s maiden season.
Hardik starred both with the bat and ball. He was the top-scorer for Gujarat with a tally of 487 in 15 matches at an average of 44.27. With the ball, Hardik took eight wickets. Out of those, three came in the final as Hardik led GT from the front in the title clash against Rajasthan Royals. He was also named the ‘Player of the Match’ in the final.
Now, Hardik will play the five-match T20I series against South Africa, starting in Delhi on June 9. Before that, he received a word of advice from former Indian cricket team skipper Mohammed Azharuddin.
The Awakening from Hardik Pandya-Huge Praise For Gujarat Titans Captain
Highlights of Team South Africa
The three highlights of the South African squad start with the return of Anrich Nortje to the T20I squad. Tristan Stubbs, a promising 21-year-old middle order batter from the Eastern Cape who has scored 506 runs in 17 senior T20 innings and made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians this season, also gets his maiden call-up.
After getting a chance to play for Mumbai Indians in the recently concluded 2022 season of the IPL, young South African batter Tristan Stubbs is now excited to play for South Africa in the upcoming five-match T20I series against India that starts on Thursday (June 9) in Delhi.
The 21-year-old Stubbs was selected as a replacement player for injured English pacer Tymal Mills and made his debut for the record champions against Chennai Super Kings on May 12, but had a forgetful debut as he was sent back to the pavilion for a two-ball duck. He retained his place for the team’s next game as well, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but could just make two runs and was then dropped from the playing eleven.
However, despite his poor show for the Rohit Sharma-led side in his maiden IPL season, the youngster was selected in the 16-member Proteas squad for the upcoming T20I series against India and he is now eager to put his cricketing skills and IPL learnings to test against the KL Rahul-led side besides enjoying the experience of being in the South African squad.
Wayne Parnell finds a place in the T20I side for the first time since 2017.
All eyes will be on key men Quinton de Kock, David Miller and Kagiso Rabada as far as the Proteas are concerned.
The 5-match series begins with the T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on June 9.
Squads
India – KL Rahul (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
South Africa – Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen.
Fixtures
Jun 09, Thu
India vs South Africa, 1st T20I
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Jun 12, Sun
India vs South Africa, 2nd T20I
Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
Jun 14, Tue
India vs South Africa, 3rd T20I
Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
Jun 17, Fri
India vs South Africa, 4th T20I
Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot
Jun 19, Sun
India vs South Africa, 5th T20I
M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru