India Likely To Feature New Captain and New Team In SA T20 Series
The attention of India’s cricketing world is focused on the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The world’s richest T20 domestic cricketing league is coming into its final stages as the 2022 IPL playoffs are set for the last week of May, and the 2022 IPL championship final will take place in May 29.
The Gujarat Titans are the current betting favorites to win the championship with odds of (3), while the Lucknow Super Giants are second in line with odds of (4) to win. The other two teams in with a chance are the Royal Challengers Bangalore (4) and Rajasthan Royals (5).
India vs. South Africa – T20 Series
The Indian cricket team will get a break for a few days once the 2022 IPL is finished and then head straight into training camp to prepare for a 5 match T20 series at home against the South Africans.
The first T20 will occur in New Delhi on June 9, the second T20 on June 12 at Cuttack, the third T20 on June 14 at Visakhapatnam, and the fourth T20 on June 17, Rajkot, and the final T20 will take place on June 19 at Bengaluru.
India goes in as betting favorites to win this T20 series since they are playing at home while the Proteas are the underdogs. The individual betting odds for each T20 game will be made available closer to the start date of each match.
While India is the favorites on paper, we think this will be a tough T20 series for both teams, especially because India is likely to play a new T20 team under the leadership of a new T20 captain.
H Pandya or S Dhawan Could Captain
The T20 captain for the Indian cricket team is Rohit Sharma, who only recently took up the captaincy role. Sharma should have captained India in this T20 series against the Proteas but is highly unlikely to do so because the Mumbai Indians have performed so poorly under his captaincy in the 2022 IPL.
The Mumbai Indians had the worst start to their 2022 IPL campaign when they lost their first 8 games, which made it extremely difficult for them to make the 2022 IPL playoffs. The Mumbai Indians have now crashed out of the tournament, and R Sharma feels the pressure of failing as the captain of Mumbai Indians.
The BCCI has decided that it is in the best interests of the Indian cricket team and R Sharma for him to take a break from cricket for a short time. The selectors are looking to find a new captain for the 5-match T20 series.
S Dhawan has captained the Indian cricket team before and has the experience to do so. He is one of the potential candidates expected to take on the captaincy. However, there is a big push to allow all-rounder H Pandya to captain India for the first time against South Africa.
Pandya has done a fantastic job in the IPL as captain of the new Gujarat Titans franchise and has helped them qualify for the IPL playoffs. Pandya has displayed great leadership and has also made big contributions with the bat and ball. Pandya hasn’t been a regular in the Indian team for the last 12 months, and he could make a return to the side as captain if he remains fit, and the selectors are willing to experiment with younger blood than the old warhorse S Dhawan.
New Team As Star Players Rested
The Indian T20 team is expected to have a new captain and a new look as the selectors are planning to rest a number of their regular T20 players against South Africa. Unconfirmed reports suggest that R Sharma, V Kohli, J Bumrah, R Pant are going to be rested, while R Jadeja and SK Yadav will also miss out due to injury.
While R Sharma failed as a captain and player in the 2022 IPL, V Kohli’s poor form continued in the IPL as he struggled to make runs for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The selectors also want to give R Pant and J Bumrah, which opens the door for several new players.
The players that are likely to make the shortlist for the T20 series against South Africa are those who have made a big impact at the 2022 IPL. Expect to see the new T20 squad feature Y Chahal, D Hooda, S Iyer, Ishan Kishan, R Gaikwad, A Khan, P Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, H Patel, Mohsin Khan, Umran Malik, and B Kumar.
