DK, Pujara make national comeback; Umran Malik earns maiden call-up

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in breaking developments, has finally put all the speculations to rest by announcing the Indian squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. The Proteas nation will be travelling to India for a five-match T20I series from June 09 to June 19 in Delhi, Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, and Bengaluru.

As rumoured, the top brass stars comprising - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah - have been rested for the five-match series against the visiting Proteas. 

KL Rahul is awarded the captaincy's hat for leading 'Men in Blue' in the shortest format. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik have earned comebacks for their maverick performances in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. 

Hardik last donned the blue jersey during the T20 World Cup. The all-rounder was on a break from the game due to his back injury. On the other hand, Karthik has made a comeback to the Indian team after an impressive performance in IPL. 

The young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant will be acting as a deputy to Rahul for the home T20I series. Meanwhile, the Indian board has also appreciated the stars of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League. Pant's Delhi teammate Kuldeep Yadav has also been included in the T20I squad. 

Two young seamers, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik, have been given their maiden call-up to the Indian team. Both the pacers were terrific during the league round of IPL 2022 as they impressed the who's who of the cricket fraternity with their pace and wicket-taking ability.

In the Test squad for the fifth (rescheduled) game against England, Rohit Sharma will be seen leading the team. 

After suffering a lean patch for over a year, the experienced duo of Rahane and Pujara were dropped from the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. However, the sensational performance by the batter in the ongoing County matches has forced the selectors to give him another chance on the big stage. 

T20I Squad for SA series - KL Rahul (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(vc/wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik

Test Squad for England series - Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna