Highlights
- Mukesh Kumar and Rajat Patidar have been named in the Indian squad
- Both Mukesh Kumar and Rajat Patidar have impressed in the domestic circuit
- Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan missed out on the team call-up
The selectors of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have shown faith in the domestic circuit as they named Rajat Patidar and Mukesh Kumar on the Indian side for the ODI series against South Africa on Sunday. The selectors waited for a long time before they took a call on the team and have gone for the trusted international combination while also naming rookies in the squad.
Rajat Patidar who plays for Madhya Pradesh in the domestic circuit was also impressive for the Indian A squad where he was scoring for fun. He scored 109 unbeaten against the New Zealand A side while he scored valuable runs in the Ranji Trophy for Madhya Pradesh. In the Indian Premier League (IPL) he scored an unbeaten 100 playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He scored 112 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and also scored 58 against Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Mukesh Kumar also punched his ticket for the ODI series after impressing for Bengal and India A. He scalped four wickets in the ongoing Irani Cup for the Rest of India. He has more than 100 wickets in the domestic circuit which again makes him a good fit. The squad however had no place for Sarfaraz Khan and Prithvi Shaw who again have missed out despite impressing domestically.
India are set to play South Africa in the three-match ODI series that kick starts on Thursday with senior pro players departing for the T20 World Cup. The senior team bound for T20 World Cup will depart for Australia on October 5 after the final T20I in Indore.
India’s Squad for ODI Series: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Shreyas Iyer (VC), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubhman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar.
