Many top players, including captain Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, will be rested for the next five-match T20 series against South Africa, in preparation for the showpiece trip of England in July.
In addition, the national selection committee is expected to exclude Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant from the Proteas’ engagements.
It is believed that veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan and all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has wowed everyone with his captaincy for Gujarat Titans in the IPL-15, are in the running for the captaincy post for both South Africa and the two-match T201 series against Ireland.
The T20 rubber against the Proteas will start in the national capital on June 9 with the remaining matches being held at Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot and Bengaluru respectively. The squad for the SA series is likely to be selected on May 22 the last day of the league phase of this edition of IPL — in Mumbai.
The PTI has already reported that an out-of form Virat Kohli will also be given a much-needed break but it is understood that for the selectors as well as the BCCI, the tour of England starting early July is paramount.
“All the senior India play ers will get at least three and half weeks of complete rest. Rohit, Virat, KL, Rishabh and Jasprit will all directly go to England for the fifth Test’ following the white-ball series. We need all our key players to remain fresh for the England series,” a senior BCCI source privy to the development told PTI on the condition of anonymi ty.
As a part of workload. management, all the sen ior all-format players will not be part of the next seven T20 Internationals.
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