No COVID-19 restrictions during South Africa's tour to India: Reports

As per reports, BCCI secretary Jay Shah has confirmed that there will be no bio-bubble in place during South Africa's tour of India. He said the same while speaking to the Times Of India. This will be the first international series without the bio-bubble for the Indian team since the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. The current Covid-19 situation in India has vastly improved in recent months, and the BCCI has already said that there would be no bio-bubble if the current trend continues.

The Indian T20 League 2022 recently included ten separate bio-bubbles, with participants required to complete a three-day quarantine before entering the bio-bubble. It wouldn't have been easy for the players because there was a lot of mental stress involved. Despite the restrictions, the Delhi camp had a few positive Covid-19 cases. However, the problem remained under control throughout the season, and a successful tournament has now prompted the BCCI to eliminate the bio-bubbles, according to TOI reports.

Meanwhile, the five-match T20I series begins on June 9th, and runs until June 19th. The opening encounter will take place at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, followed by games at Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, and Bangalore. These matches are in the preparation for the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia later this year.

KL Rahul has been selected as India's captain, with Rishabh Pant serving as his deputy. Notably, several prominent players have rested. This includes the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah. After performing well in the Indian T20 League 2022, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, and Hardik Pandya have returned to the side. Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh also have earned their maiden call-ups to the Indian side.

The Indian team is likely to undergo a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore before the series.

India’s Squad for the T20I series against South Africa

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