New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday announced Indian squads for T20 series against South Africa. Many regular players, including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, have been rested for the Ind-SA T20I series. Several young talents, who made an impact with their performances in IPL 2022, have been included in the national team taking on South Africa in limited-overs format.
Jammu & Kashmir pace sensation Umran Malik, who bowled the fastest ball in IPL 2022, has earned a spot in the Indian team for the first time. Fans and cricket pundits predicted that the speedster would most likely make his debut in the T20 series against South Africa. Punjab's left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh is another young talent who earned a maiden national call-up.
Twitter was set abuzz just after BCCI announced the Indian squad for Ind-SA T20Is. Fans made sure to trend Umran Malik on the micro-blogging site as they cheered and celebrated a young talent getting the recognition and chance he truly deserves. Malik has performed tremendously in his first full IPL season with Sunrisers Hyderabad. The speedster has consistently bowled at 150 kmph in IPL and has troubled many big players with his fiery spells. Malik is fifth in the list of highest wicket-takers in IPL 2022 and has taken 21 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 20 and an economy rate of 8.93.
Star batter KL Rahul will lead the Indian team in the five-match T20I series against South Africa.