India Squad for South Africa T20I Series (Predicted): Focus on Umran Malik, Karthik, Sanju Samson

It is likely that the selectors will give due weightage to the players’ performances in the IPL 2022 while picking the India squad.

Some of the seniors like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami etc could be rested in view of the hectic season ahead culminating with the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia in October.

It will be a good break for some of these players who have been in the bubble for long. Similarly, the selectors will also weigh in the performances of players like Dinesh Karthik, Sanju Samson etc and might just hand them a call back to the Team India.

Everyone wants to see the inclusion of Umran Malik into the team India after his impressive outing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2022. The tearaway fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir has taken 21 wickets from 13 matches for the SRH and also has bowled the quickest delivery in the IPL 15 so far, a 157 kmph thunderbolt.

So, the selectors might just be tempted to blood him against the South Africans.

Former India captain and coach Ravi Shastri was also greatly impressed by the young pacer.

Central contract straightway,” Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out after Malik bagged three wickets in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s win against Mumbai Indians.

“And keep him in the mix, don’t let him float around. Keep him in the mix with the main players and then he learns seeing and being around with the likes of Mohammed Shamis and Jasprit Bumrahs, and see the way they train, see the way they manage their workload.

“Of course, there’ll be the team management there, support staff, that’ll help him do that, but don’t let him stray at the moment. Get him into the mix, and keep him there and groom him,” said Shastri.

The young left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan, who has been very impressive for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2022, too might find a place in the India squad for the South Africa series.

Mohsin has taken 13 wickets from 8 matches and his economy of 5.93 is one of the best in the IPL 2022 so far, as he has showed plenty of promise and nerve while bowling out the death overs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who led the SRH bowling quite admirably in the IPL 2022, too might win his place back in the India squad and should be leading the bowling attack in the absence of Bumrah and Shami.

Dark horse could be Khaleel Ahmed, the left-arm pacer who is having a fine season for Delhi Capitals. Khaleel has taken 16 wickets from 9 matches for the DC and showed lot of determination too.

So here’s India squad for the South Africa T20I series based on the IPL 2022 performances.

India squad (Predicted): 1 Hardik Pandya, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Dinesh Karthik, 6 Rahul Tripathi, 7 Sanju Samson, 8 Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Umran Malik, 11 Shreyas Iyer, 12 Kuldeep Yadav, 13 Mohsin Khan, 14 Harshal Patel, 15 Avesh Khan, 16 Washington Sundar, 17 Khaleel Ahmed.