Senior players to rest in the series against South Africa

The captain and the vice captain of the team, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are likely to take a break when team India challenges South Africa after the Indian T20 League. Along with them, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah will also take a break. With few senior players missing the series, reports suggest that Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya will be in the race to captain the side.

The series is scheduled to start on 9th of June at Delhi with four other matches at Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot and Bengaluru respectively. The cricketing board of India is yet to make an official announcement regarding the team selection but if rumours are to be believed, then former Captain Virat Kohli might as well get a break. His form is a matter of huge concern and the board wants to give some time to him before the important England series.

“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 board source privy to the development told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

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 haven’t gone unnoticed. So it will be a close call” he added.

Few youngsters might get their maiden call up when Proteas travel to India. Players like Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan and others will be tested before the crucial T20 World Series. If they perform well, they can very well get the ticket to Australia.