5 players who were unlucky to miss out on India's T20I squad to face South Africa
Amidst the hoopla surrounding the IPL Auction, India not only managed to win the third Test against South Africa but also announced their squad for the three T20Is against South Africa. The biggest story from the T20I squad was the return of Suresh Raina.
The arrival of the World Cup-winning all-rounder also meant that there were a few worthy candidates who missed out on a spot in the side. The T20I series begins on February 18 and here is the complete squad for the three-match series.
India squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur
Here are 5 players who were unlucky to miss out on India's T20I squad to face South Africa:
Rishabh Pant
If there is one name that has dominated the headlines over the last few years, especially in T20s, it has to be Rishabh Pant. The southpaw's ability to seemingly clear the boundary at will and consistent performances across all formats led to him making his India debut against England in a T20I in 2017. However, since then he has fallen away from the selectors' radars.
This is despite the fact that he was an integral part of Delhi's victorious Syed Mushtaq Ali side. He finished as the second-leading run-getter in the tournament, scoring 411 runs from 10 matches at an average of 45 and strike rate of almost 200. He also scored four fifties and the fastest T20 century by an Indian batsman.
Despite his incredible recent form and the fact that he was retained by Delhi Daredevils ahead of the Auction, India decided to overlook the talented youngster for the T20I series.