WATCH: Head coach Rahul Dravid gives pep talk as Team India begin training for South Africa T20I series
Rahul Dravid was spotted giving pep talk to Indian players ahead of South Africa T20Is.
India have begun their preparations for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa at home. KL Rahul will lead the Indian team in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma in the five-match series against the Proteas. Several youngsters who impressed in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 have made the cut into the squad and will be eager to perform for the Men in Blue.
The five-match series against South Africa is scheduled to get underway from June 09 at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in New Delhi. Each member of the Indian squad was in action during IPL 2022 which concluded on May 29 and got a much-deserved break before returning for national duty this month.
Apart from skipper Rohit, senior players like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have also been rested from the squad and will return to action in the one-off Test against England next month. In their absence, it will be a litmus test for Rahul as captain in charge of a young team.
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In a video shared by BCCI on Twitter, India head coach Rahul Dravid was seen giving a pep talk to the players as they stood in a huddle during their training session at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in New Delhi on Monday. The likes of Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Arshdeep Singh and others were seen listening with attention.
While the likes of Umran and Arshdeep were selected in the squad after their exploits with the ball in the recently-concluded season, veteran Karthik also managed to make his comeback to the team after a gap of 3 years. Karthik, who last featured for India during the 2019 ODI World Cup, was phenomenal for RCB as a finisher in IPL 2022.
In the absence of Bumrah and Shami, Bhuvneshwar will spearhead India's pace attack and will have support from the likes of Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Umran and Arshdeep. India will be hoping to get off to a winning start in the T20I series and gain some momentum for the rest four games. It remains to be seen if Umran will be handed his debut after a stellar season in IPL 2022.