The Indian team management ahead of the 2022 ICC T20I World Cup has a good headache to construct a squad that gives the men in blue a strong chance to win the tournament. Irrespective of the outcome of this bilateral tournament, head coach Rahul Dravid will have his keen eyes set on this young bunch of Indian players. Currently, team India is on a 12-match winning streak and is in with a fair chance of creating a record of winning 13 T20I games in a row.
The leadership and the management group of the Indian team have a huge responsibility of setting up a core group of players who can shape the team's style and intent of play. Keeping in mind the upcoming World Cup, coach Dravid is elated by the fact that he and his team have a strong opponent in South Africa. With the likes of David Miller, Temba Bavuma, and Quinton de Kock, team South Africa looks very lethal and can certainly challenge India in their backyard.
Most of the India and South Africa players had teamed up for various IPL franchises earlier this year and this means that every player knows their opposition well and will be better equipped to face the challenges thrown at them. The euphoric rise of Hardik Pandya has been a talking point and it will be interesting to see how coach Dravid uses him in the current Indian setup. Dinesh Karthik too generated a lot of buzz in the IPL with his finishing capabilities and is competing head-to-head with Rishabh Pant to make it to the final eleven.
Despite the series being all about trials and tests, the quality of cricket is something that has high expectations and India will want to dominate their opposition as they take the field on June 9, 2022, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
India squad:
KL Rahul (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
South Africa squad:
Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), 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.
(Inputs from PTI)
