Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer in line for South Africa ODI series, question mark over Dhawan: Report

Indian cricket team's upcoming tour to South Africa might see young opening batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad and all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer getting the nod, while experienced campaigner Shikhar Dhawan might be dropped, as per reports.

The Indian cricket team is set to tour Siuth Africa later this month for the 3 Test matches as well 3 One Day Internationals (ODI), beginning from the 26th of December with the Test matches.

While the team's Test squad for the series is already announced, there is still an official announcement left from the selectors and the BCCI for the ODI squad. However, it has been confirmed that Rohit Sharma will be the new ODI captain of the team.

According to a report by PTI, experienced Indian opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan might get dropped while in form batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad might find his way. On the other hand, Venkatesh Iyer might pip Hardik Pandya as the batting all-rounder of the team.

Venkatesh Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad set to be included in the India ODI team for the South Africa tour. (Source - PTI)

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 12, 2021

A source confirmed to PTI that Venkatesh Iyer is going to South Africa for sure as the Madhya Pradesh lad is bowling 9 to 10 overs, while Hardik Pandya, whose place he will be taking, is still recovering from his injury issues. He continued that Venkatesh Iyer is sure to go to South Africa unless he sustains any injuries.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer stats

This comes after both the players impressing in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. Even before that, both Ruturaj and Venkatesh had a great IPL campaign and went on to replicate the form in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

While Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 259 runs in 5 Syed Mushtaq Ali matches, Iyer scored 227 runs and picked up 5 wickets in as many matches.

Ruturaj Gaikwad has already scored three consecutive hundreds in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021, while Iyer has scored 2 hundred, the most recent being 151 runs against Chandigarh.

While the two continues to impress, Shikhar Dhawan has failed to impress the selectors. The Delhi batsman has scored only 44 runs from 4 matches.

The source also added that even though Gaikwad is likely in place of Dhawan, but, with how Dravid is backing the senior players, we might even see both Dhawan and Gaikwad travelling with the team.