India vs South Africa: Rohit, Pant, Rahul could be rested for T20s

Several senior players from the Indian cricket team including Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Jasprit Bumrah are set to be rested for India's upcoming series against South Africa at home.

The decision is being taken keeping in mind India's marquee tour of England. They could also be rested for the two T20s against Ireland, which will be played ahead of the England tour.

It is understood that Shikhar Dhawan and Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper could be handed leadership goals for the home series against South Africa and also against England in two T20Is.

The touring South Africa squad is expected to be announced on May 22, when the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will be in its business end. The five-match T20I series between India and South Africa is scheduled to go underway on June 9 in Delhi, with the remaining games being held at Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot and Bengaluru respectively.

"All the senior India players will get at least three and half weeks of complete rest. Rohit, Virat, KL, Rishabh and Jasprit will all directly go to England for the 'fifth Test' following the white-ball series. We need all our key players to remain fresh for the England series," a senior unnamed BCCI source told PTI.

It is believed that all the senior players, who play across formats for India, will not be part of the next seven T20 Internationals, as per the BCCI's workload management.

Asked about captaincy, the source said: "The selectors have a couple of choices. Shikhar Dhawan, as he has already captained India in absence of Virat, Rohit and Rahul during last year's Sri Lanka series. But Hardik Pandya's impressive captaincy for Gujarat Titans hasn't gone unnoticed. So it will be a close call," he added.

Moshin Khan could edge Umran Malik to bag India call up

Umran Malik has produced consistently pace of around 150kmph for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the ongoing tournament. However, the BCCI believes that he is too raw and more time with India A could help him improve. While he remains in the mix with death overs specialist Arshdeep Singh, the bowler who could be a 'Dark Horse' is Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fast bowler Mohsin Khan.

"Our pace bowling department is set and selectors might not experiment too much. But yes, Mohsin has impressed almost everyone with his pace, bounce and swing in this edition. He does have a chance. Having said that, not ruling out Umran or Arshdeep either, but Mohsin might just be slightly ahead," the source further added.

It is understood that most of the players who were a part of the T20 series against Sri Lanka and the West Indies earlier this year will be retained by Team India irrespective of their current IPL form. While, Suryakumar Yadav or Ravindra Jadeja's injury needs to be monitored and Deepak Chahar, who has been out of action due to various injuries, will also not be available.

The likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, and Deepak Hooda along with Dhawan and Hardik are set to be the core of the batting unit. Sanju Samson could also be retained and there could be at the max one left-field selection in the squad.

In the pace bowling unit, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, Harshal Patel, and Avesh Khan are all expected to be selected, along with the IPL's stellar spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. Kuldeep Yadav is also expected to make the cut.