Skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his deputy Shubman Gill's indifferent form is a massive concern but the national selection committee is unlikely to make any shocking changes when it picks the 15-member squad for next year's T20 World Cup in Mumbai on Saturday.
Defending champions India will take on the USA in one of the three matches on the opening day of the tournament.
When players select themselves, the selectors' job becomes delightfully simple. But did the Indian selectors have that luxury while picking the T20 World Cup squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup? asks K R Nayar.
'India will have to use him carefully. If they want him to bowl three overs early, then Arshdeep Singh has to partner Bumrah in the death overs.'
Arshdeep feels that being a master of 50-over cricket, Kohli will score runs in the remaining two games of this series.
In the chase, India lost Shubman Gill for a golden duck, while Marco Jansen got rid of Abhishek Sharma and India skipper Suryakumar Yadav, before Baartman broke the 35-run stand between Axar Patel and Varma.
India great Virat Kohli continued his push to regain his place as the best ODI batter while moving up to the second spot in the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday.
Both Arshdeep and Khaleel have previously featured in India's limited-overs squads.
Virat Kohli has two hundreds and a fifty in his last three innings, while Rohit Sharma has a hundred and two fifties in his last four outings.
Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed his maiden ODI hundred to power India to a 2-1 series win after they thrashed against South Africa by nine wickets in the third and final ODI.
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Images from the fifth T20 International between India and South Africa, in Ahmedabad, on Friday.
Rishabh Pant's place in the playing eleven is far from guaranteed, while Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy are locked in a tight contest for the additional all-rounder's slot as India confront several selection dilemmas ahead of the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi.
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K L Rahul takes over the captaincy after regular skipper Shubman Gill missed the series because of a neck injury.
Suryakumar Yadav on Sunday acknowledged the shortage of runs from him but India's T20I skipper did not count it as lack of form, saying that runs will come sooner than later.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who returned to international cricket for the three-match ODI series against Australia recently, were not considered for India A's three-match one-day series against the touring South Africa A side, beginning in Rajkot on November 13.
The senior duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma went full throttle in India's practice session on the eve of the India vs South Africa first ODI in Ranchi.
Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill is "ready to start" ahead of the first T20I against South Africa of the five-match series, which will take place on December 9.
At a loss to explain South Africa's capitulation in the series-opener, their batting coach Ashwell Prince said the visitors simply failed to answer the questions posed by India's "formidable" bowlers while being dismissed for their lowest T20I total of 74 Cuttack.
Arshdeep Singh, the left-arm seamer who has become a death-overs specialist for Punjab Kings in the IPL, credits constructive self-criticism and continuous improvement for his success.
India will look to address several lingering selection puzzles when they take on South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday in the first ODI of the three-match series, where Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli return to the set-up for a short audition that could well shape their 2027 World Cup fate.
Shubman Gill's form in the series is a concern for India as he has now gone six games without a half-century.
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India skipper Suryakumar Yadav urged his teammates to remain on the fearless on the cricket pitch.
Senior batter Virat Kohli's awesome genius in 50-over format was on full view during his 52nd hundred that guided India to a strong 349 for eight against South Africa in the first ODI of the three-match series in Ranchi on Sunday.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, arrived in Delhi on Tuesday and linked up with rest of the Indian team, many of whom were playing in the two-Test series against West Indies.
Gaikwad guides India A to four wicket win over South Africa A
India's players lauded batting maestro Virat Kohli after his scintillating century guided India to a 17-run win over South Africa in the first ODI in Ranchi on Sunday.
The Bellerive Oval is one ground where the side boundaries are smaller in size, hence hitting the right lengths would be paramount considering anything short would be flying over cover, point, square leg or mid-wicket on either side of the fence.
The ICC has imposed a 30 percent fine on the match fees of India's Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf for breaching the Code of Conduct during the India-Pakistan Asia Cup tie. Both players were found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute.
Arshdeep Singh, the India seamer, reveals he has felt a sense of "seniority" since joining Punjab Kings, attributing it to the responsibility entrusted upon him.
Nitish Kumar Reddy sustained a left quadriceps injury during the second ODI in Adelaide and was subsequently unavailable for selection for the third ODI
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The T20 WC champions will look to enter this phase with clarity of intent as they refine roles, streamline combinations and settle the XI that will carry the weight of expectations in front of home crowds.
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Former India opener WV Raman, one of the most respected coaches in the country, feels experience will be a key factor which should go in favour of the Punjab pacer.
So far in the T20I series, Bumrah has taken three wickets in three matches at an average of 26.33, with best figures of 2/26 and an economy rate of 6.58.
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