Reports: India want four more fast bowlers to accompany the team to South Africa
With India's tour of South Africa set to get underway in less than two weeks after the T20I series against Sri Lanka gets over, the Indian team will have very limited time to prepare themselves for the much-anticipated series.
Last week, the Indian selectors announced a 17-member side for the tour to the rainbow nation that had the likes of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya in the pace bowling department.
Also read: India squad for South Africa Test series announced
Now, the Indian team management has asked the BCCI for four more pacers to assist the Indian batsmen in the nets. According to reports, the team management has identified four young pacers, Mohammed Siraj, Basil Thampi, Navdeep Saini and Avesh Khan to travel with Virat Kohli and co.
According to the same reports, sources close to BCCI revealed that the request has been made by the team management keeping in mind the workload of the pacers in the actual squad. Adding to this, the youngsters will also learn a lot by travelling with the team, something that will come in handy whenever get the nod.
"It will serve a double purpose. The young pacers will learn a lot by travelling with the team and bowling to international batsmen. It will also reduce the workload of our pacers in the nets. The request is to keep them for at least three weeks," the source told.
When Sportskeeda contacted Mohammed Siraj, he said he is not aware of the development.
The first of the three Tests will be played in Cape Town, starting 5th January, while Centurion and Johannesburg will host the next two Tests, starting 13th and 24th January respectively. The six-match ODI series commences on 1st February and the three-match T20I series on 18th of the same month.
India's 17-member squad to South Africa: Virat Kohli (Capt), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.