IND vs SA: 5 deserving Indian players to miss out from T20I squad

BCCI have announced the 18-man squad for T20I series against South Africa. Most of the players who got a chance in the last series against Sri Lanka like Venkatesh Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi and Deepak Hooda have retained their places.

The five-match T20I series could be crucial for many players who are looking to book their place in the squad for the T20 World Cup 2022. Various spots in the middle order are up for grabs as the selectors are looking to give opportunities to newcomers.

While there have been fresh call-ups based on IPL form like Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik, there are some notable absentees. Many IPL performers haven’t made it to the squad as the selectors have looked to retain the players who have been getting chances in the previous series.

Here is a list of 5 players who were overlooked during the squad selection:

1. Rahul Tripathi

Rahul Tripathi has been in fine form not just in this IPL but for 3-4 seasons now. Many youngsters have made their debut based on one season but the selectors have continued to overlook the Sunrisers Hyderabad batter.

Tripathi’s ability to strike from ball one is much needed in modern-day T20 cricket. Very few players can bat with the positive intent from the start that he has been displaying in the recent IPL seasons. Leading into the T20 world cup later in the year, he could have been given chances in the middle order along with Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda.

Rahul Tripathi is a very versatile batter and he proved it when he played as an opener at RPSG, a finisher at KKR initially, and a number 3 batter for SRH. He has scored 400+ runs in another IPL season at a strike rate of 158. One more thing to note is the fact that Tripathi is comfortable against both pace and spin.