Five players who may not make it to the playing eleven in the T20I series against South Africa

The Indian T20 League 2022 has culminated with Gujarat emerging as winners under the leadership of Hardik Pandya. Following the tournament, the Indian team will be playing South Africa in a five-match T20I series at home. The selectors have selected a team with plenty of new faces in the squad. KL Rahul will be leading the new-look Indian squad in absence of the majority of experienced campaigners.

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While India will look to test their bench strength in the series, there might be some players who may not get a chance to play in the playing eleven. Here is a list of five players who might not get a chance to play on the team.

Ruturaj Gaikwad (Image Source: BCCI)

1. Ruturaj Gaikwad: Ruturaj Gaikwad impressed everybody with his elegance and composure in the 2021 edition of the Indian T20 League. He finished the 14^th edition of the tournament as the highest run-scorer. Gaikwad’s batting exploits in the tournament earned him a place on the national team. But he has not got enough chances in the national colors owing to injuries.

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In the South Africa T20I series, India has three opening options KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Ishan Kishan. KL Rahul will be one of the obvious choices as he is the skipper of the team for the other opening batter India might look to use Ishan Kishan, for a left-hand-right-hand combination. As a result, Ruturaj might not get a chance to play in the series.

Ravi Bishnoi (Image Source: BCCI)

2. Ravi Bishnoi: Ravi Bihsnoi has emerged as a talented and daring leg-spinner in the last couple of ITL seasons. He has impressed everybody with the way he goes about his business.

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He has received a national call-up for the South African series. But India has two other spinning options in the form of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Both Chahal and Kuldeep had a better Indian T20 League season than Bishnoi and hence India might opt to go for the two while Bishnoi warms the bench.

Venkatesh Iyer (Image Source: BCCI)

3. Venkatesh Iyer: Venkatesh Iyer was one of the prime reasons for Kolkata making it to the finals of the Indian T20 League 2021. After his performances in the tournament Iyer was included in the national T20 squad as a batter who can be handy with his medium pacers.

While Iyer is in the squad for the South Africa T20I series, the presence of Hardik Pandya is a big boost for the Indian team. With Pandya fit, scoring runs consistently and bowling a few overs, India will surely look to use him. Hence, Venkatesh Iyer might be warming the benches in the series.

Deepak Hooda (Image Source: BCCI)

4. Deepak Hooda: Deepak Hooda has been a name spoken about a lot in the last few seasons. But he failed to live up to his reputation in the bigger stages till the Indian T20 League 2022. In the 15^th edition of the ITL, Hood stood up for Lucknow whenever the team needed him to deliver. His brilliant performance in the tournament has earned him a place in the squad for the South Africa series.

But with the presence of players like Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Dinesh Karthik it will be difficult for Hooda to get a chance in the middle order.

Avesh Khan (Image Source: BCCI)

5. Avesh Khan: Avesh Khan is in the squad because of the wicket-taking abilities he displayed in the Indian T20 League 2022. Avesh Khan picked up 18 wickets in 13 matches and was bowling at a great pace in the tournament.

But with Buhvneswar Kumar, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshal Patel in the squad, there are very little chances that Avesh Khan will get a not ahead of any of the three.