India vs South Africa: 3 Indian players who should've got a chance in the ODI squad

The BCCI has announced India’s 15-man squad for the upcoming three-match home ODI series against South Africa beginning on March 12th at Dharamsala. While Rohit Sharma who is recovering from a calf injury remains to be the major absentee, the management has dropped Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav and Shardul Thakur who were a part of the squad against New Zealand.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya who last played for India in September last year during the home T20I series against South Africa has made his much-awaited return. Also making their comebacks to the national colours are Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan who returned to action in the recently concluded 2020 DY Patil T20 tournament where they played alongside Hardik Pandya.

With Rohit Sharma recovering from injury and Mayank Agarwal being dropped, young Shubman Gill has been included as a back-up for the top-order. Meanwhile, speedster Navdeep Saini who played two ODIs against New Zealand has retained his spot in the absence of Mohammed Shami. Though the squad looks balanced and formidable, several talented players have been left out.

On that note, let us look at three Indian players who have missed out from India’s 15-man squad for the ODI series against South Africa.

1) Suryakumar Yadav

Despite being a consistent performer across formats in the domestic tournaments for several years, Suryakaumar hasn’t earned his much-deserved Team India call-up yet. Though it was expected that the Indian team management would provide him with a chance to prove himself instead of Kedar Jadhav in the three-match ODIs against New Zealand last month, unfortunately, it wasn’t the case.

The Mumbaikar who represented India A in the two one-day warm-up matches (against New Zealand XI) as well as the three unofficial ODIs against New Zealand A, could have been included for the upcoming ODI series against the Proteas given his batting credentials and with the series to be played at home it would have been perfect for the 29-year-old to make his International debut.

Though Dube and Jadhav have been dropped, Hardik Pandya’s comeback has made it difficult for Suryakumar to make the cut. Now that the Mumbai Indians star is once again overlooked, it remains to be seen whether a good outing with the willow in 2020 IPL would help the experienced campaigner secure a spot in India’s 2020 T20 World Cup squad!