BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has stated that white-ball cricket requires a single, unified captaincy rather than two different leaders. As of now, the official squad for the three-game ODI series against South Africa hasn't been announced. The action is set to begin on January 19, 2022, at Paarl's Boland Park. In finalizing the team, the senior selection committee must carefully consider workload management and the challenges of bubble life.
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said that there could not be two different captains for white-ball cricket. BCCI is yet to finalize the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against South Africa. The ODI series is scheduled to start from 19th January 2022 at Boland Park, Paarl. The all-India senior selection committee has to keep bubble-life and workload management in mind before picking up the squad.
Selectors are growing uneasy over Shikhar Dhawan's poor batting streak in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. This slump has brought Ruturaj Gaikwad and Venkatesh Iyer into the spotlight. Given their stellar performances in the current tournament, these two rising stars seem poised to earn their call-ups.
Both players have proven their worth with impressive century counts—three for Gaikwad and two for Iyer. Gaikwad's feat of three straight hundreds for Maharashtra puts significant pressure on the selection panel to bring him in as an opening alternative. Meanwhile, Iyer has displayed his all-around skills by taking crucial wickets, positioning himself as a legitimate rival to Hardik Pandya for the premier all-rounder slot.
That said, fitting Iyer into the top order would be difficult with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul already established. He is better suited as a finisher at number five or six. He's already shown flexibility in his role, scoring 112 while batting at four against Kerala and 71 at number five against Uttarakhand. Now is the ideal moment to give these players experience and prepare them for high-stakes international tournaments.