The BCCI announced India’s squads for the five-match T20I series against South Africa and only Test versus England on Sunday. KL Rahul was named the captain for the former as some regular players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were rested. 

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For the away-Test against England, India go with a full-packed squad. Cheteshwar Pujara has returned in the whites as KS Bharart gets a call-up. 

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Here are some highlights from India’s squad selection:

 1) Arshdeep Singh and Umran gets their maiden India call-up:

Two Indian pacers who have done well in IPL 2022 – Umran Malik  and Arshdeep Singh – got their maiden India call-up for the T20I series vs South Africa. 

The Punjab Kings seamer, Singh, has been impressive in the death overs. The 23-year-old has picked 10 wickets in 13 innings at a brilliant economy of 7.82 rpo. 

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Malik, on ther other hand, has clocked IPL’s second-fastest delivery – a 157 kph bullet – this season. He tops Sunrisers Hyderabad’s charts with 21 wickets this season. 

2) KL Rahul captain, Rishabh Pant vice captain:

Rahul and Pant lead the Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals respectively in the IPL. The two will be at the helm when India takes on South Africa. 

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3) Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi not included:

Sanju Samson, who has been in and out of the Indian set-up for the past few years, will not play the T20Is against South Africa. The Rajasthan Royals skipper has scored 374 runs in 14 games in IPL 2022 at an average of 28.77 and strike rate of a little more than 147. 

Tripathi, on the other hand, has impressed in the second-half of the season. He leads SRH’s charts with 393 runs in 13 games at an average of 39.30 and a whopping strike rate of 161.72. 

4) Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik return:

Hardik Pandya, who leads the Gujarat Titans, has come back to the Indian squad after the T20 World Cup last year. The 28-year-old has scored 413 runs in 13 matches this season at an average of 41.30 and strike rate of 131.52. He also has four wickets against his name. 

5) Pujara returns to India’s Test squad:

Cheteshwar Pujara’s hard work in the County Championship with Sussex paid off. The Test veteran returns to the side. 

Pujara scored a century and two double tons in England after being dropped from India’s squad for the Sri Lanka series earlier this year.

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T20I squad: KL Rahul (Capt), 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) – Rohit Sharma (Capt), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna