Sport

India vs South Africa 2022: Shikhar Dhawan to lead ODI squad in SA series, say BCCI sources

September 12, 2022
Bharat Times

Veteran Team India opener Shikhar Dhawan will lead India in the upcoming ODI series against South Africa on home soil, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sources told news agency ANI. Sources said that the captaincy will be handed over to Dhawan as the players playing in the T20 World Cup 2022 may be rested.

The eighth edition of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 is scheduled to be held in Australia from 16 October to 13 November this year. Also, VVS Laxman is likely to accompany the team as a coach in the absence of head coach Rahul Dravid, BCCI officials said.

India will play three T20Is and ODIs against South Africa from 28 September. The first T20I will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on 28 September. The second T20I will be played on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2022, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. in Guwahati, followed by the last T20I in Indore on 4 October.

The action will then shift to Lucknow on October 6 where the ODI series will begin, with Shikhar Dhawan leading the side. Ranchi and Delhi will host the second and third ODIs on 9 and 11 October respectively.

Rohit Sharma & Co will leave for Australia on 9th or 10th October. Early departure will help adapt to Australian conditions and time zones. India will start with intra-squad practice matches before the practice games.

It is expected that Rahul Tripathi will debut in this series. While young Umran Malik may also return for the ODI series after making his debut against Ireland earlier this year.

Dhawan is in good form this year in ODIs, at an average of 51.85 in 9 ODIs in 2022. He has scored 363 runs in 9 matches this season. Overall, in 158 ODIs, Dhawan has scored 6,647 runs at an average of 45.84 with 17 centuries and 38 fifties.

(with ANI inputs)