The BCCI announced a star-studded Indian squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against the South African cricket team. Before the official announcement, reports claimed that Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul will be rested for the series. The report also claimed that either Shikhar Dhawan or Hardik Pandya would lead the Men in Blue against the Proteas.
However, the BCCI has picked both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in the team. Rahul is the skipper, with Pant being his deputy. Interestingly, Shikhar Dhawan, who was among the candidates to lead the Indian cricket team, did not find a place in the squad for the 5-match series.
Here is the full squad for the five-match T20I series against the South African cricket team, which will start on June 9:
KL Rahul (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain)(wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
Veteran wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik made his comeback along with the Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya, who has had a defining IPL season so far. Interestingly, the likes of Sanju Samson, Krunal Pandya, Sandeep Warrieer, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana,S and Shikhar Dhawan, who played against the Sri Lankan cricket team last year are missing.
Fans react as Shikhar Dhawan is absent from the Indian squad for the T20I series against the South African cricket team
Dhawan has been one of the most consistent performers in the Indian Premier League. Since he is no longer in contention for the red-ball team, fans expected him to be a part of the Indian squad for the T20I series against the South African cricket team.
Here are some of the top Twitter reactions to Dhawan missing out:
End of the Road for Shikhar Dhawan in T20is??#ShikharDhawan #IndvsSA #BCCI https://t.co/bzYvjo3iLF
— Manish Nadar (@ManishNadar10) May 22, 2022
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Missing Shikhar Dhawan #TeamIndia #BCCI https://t.co/naVUaI8YZA
— Ashu (@its_ashu_) May 22, 2022
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Shikhar Dhawan missing out, for the IndvsSA series, from the squad is the saddest news today! Selectors making the same mistake they did before T20 WC.
Ishan and Ruturaj selected on what form??!!!? #IndvsSA #ShikharDhawan #TeamIndia #IPL #IPL2022— Omji Dubey (@Odij_smile) May 22, 2022
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Very much disappointed by this team selection. No Tripathi, no Sanju and What abt Shikhar Dhawan?🧐
— Sahil (@_Sahil_17_) May 22, 2022
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Shikhar Dhawan where?!
— VIRAT KOHLI KA PANKHA HUN KOI PROBLEM HUH!??🤬 (@Khemansingla) May 22, 2022
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Shikhar dhawan? R. Ashwin ? Rahul Tripathi? Sanju Samson ?#samson #Ruturaj #BCCI #ShikharDhawan #tripathi
— Jitendra Dewasi (@Jitendr01767407) May 22, 2022
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Shikhar Dhawan and Rahul Tripathi is ignored by selection committee
— Ajeet Yadav (@AjeetYa15529293) May 22, 2022
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No Shikhar Dhawan, No Rahul Tripathi, No Sanju Samson, No T Natarajan & No Washington Sundar in India T20 Squad, They all Deserve to be part of the Indian T20 Team😢 #BCCI #IndvsSA #TeamIndia #IPL2022
— Cricket Countdown (@Cric8Countdown) May 22, 2022
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People are talking about rahul tripathi, sanju samson… those who's IPL was good but no one talking about Shikhar Dhawan who consistently performing ndan of icc event for india ❤️🥲
— Gurv🇮🇳 (@ImGauurav) May 22, 2022
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I don't know why @BCCI is not selecting @rahultripathi ,Samson and @SDhawan25
They are performing really well in past years #indvssa #ipl— Sukh (@Sukh_sran__) May 22, 2022
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No Shikhar Dhawan.
— Aniruddha Guha (@AniGuha) May 22, 2022
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