Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh picked for SA T20Is, Rahul to lead

Sunrisers Hyderabad's pace sensation Umran Malik and Punjab Kings' Arshdeep Singh have beennamed in India's 18-member squad for the five home T20Is against South Africa, starting on June 9. Malik, who was retained by SRH, has had a breakout season, picking 21 wickets in 13 fixtures so far and often clocking speeds in excess of 150 kmph. Arshdeep meanwhile, has enhanced his reputation as a death bowler at PBKS, and has picked 10 wickets this season. With several seniors missing for the T20Is as they prepare for the fifth Test against England in Edgbaston, KL Rahul has been named captain for the limited-overs series against South Africa. Shikhar Dhawan, who had led India in a similar situation with seniors missing the tour of Sri Lanka last year, has not even been picked. India's T20I squad: KL Rahul (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik Among the notable returnees to the T20I squad are Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik. Any doubts of whether Hardik can manage his fitness and be a bowling option for the national side have been eased during the ongoing IPL, where he's bowled for the Gujarat Titans, and even done so in the powerplay. Karthik has been quite the revelation as a finisher for RCB, with a batting strike rate of 191.33 this season. India's Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc) Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna For the all-important fifth Test against England in Birmingham from July 1, there are a few changes to the squad that took the 2-1 lead back in July-September 2021. Shubman Gill is in, in place of Mayank Agarwal; Shreyas Iyer - who made his impressive Test debut earlier this year - takes a middle-order slot ahead of Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane had already lost his Test spot during the home series against Sri Lanka earlier this year along with fellow stalwart Cheteshwar Pujara, but the latter has found his way back for the single Test against England. His returns comes on the back of an exceptional county stint in May which involved four successive hundreds for Sussex.