Rahul Dravid: India need to be realistic it will be a big role for Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya
Rahul Dravid: India need to be realistic it will be a big role for Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya - On Tuesday, 7 June, India coach Rahul Dravid gave a news conference ahead of the five-match T20I series against South Africa - For more updates keep watching 99runs
The squad is now camping in Delhi following the conclusion of the IPL, where they will play the first game of the series before moving on to Cuttack, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, and finally Bengaluru.
While the group includes many new faces, there are a few old favourites, including as Dinesh Karthik, who is returning to the India setup.
Rahul Dravid: India need to be realistic it will be a big role for Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya
Karthik hasn't represented India in the shortest format since 2019. He has represented India in 94 One-Day Internationals and 32 Twenty-20 Internationals.
However, the selectors found it difficult to overlook his remarkable IPL performance, in which he scored 330 runs for RCB in 16 games with a strike rate of 183.
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Rahul Dravid Statement
"It's fairly apparent with Dinesh," Dravid added. "It's obvious that he's made a comeback based on the talents he's demonstrated in a specific phase of the game.
Dinesh has been able to demonstrate remarkable consistency in that backend for the past two to three years.
Regardless of the squad on which he has played, he has been able to have an impact.
"I don't see it any other way, and that's why he was chosen."
Rahul Dravid: India need to be realistic it will be a big role for Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya
Dinesh Karthik Hardik Pandya back in Blue
He's been assigned to bat in that position in order to see if he can repeat his IPL success. Another player who has returned to the squad is Hardik Pandya.
Due to injuries, the all-rounder has been in and out of the white-ball setup, but he just had a fantastic IPL season as a player and captain.
Dravid expressed his delight at having Hardik back in the team, both as a batsman and as a bowler, but hinted that he would bat higher in the order than he did with Gujarat. "It's nice to have him back," Dravid said.
"Hardik Pandya is a tremendous hitter and bowler when he's at his best." This has happened before in India.
Rahul Dravid: India need to be realistic it will be a big role for Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya
He's had a great season in the IPL, and he's had a lot of success in white-ball cricket.
"Without giving too much away about the batting orders before the game, your responsibilities with the franchise frequently match those with India, but you also have to play many roles for different teams."
"Depending on the nature of our team and the individuals who have already established themselves in various areas, that can happen from time to time."
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Umran Mallik With pace is exciting says Dravid
"It's exciting, to be sure. "He bowled quickly and with velocity," Dravid said.
"Another fascinating aspect of watching the IPL from the sidelines was the large number of Indian bowlers who bowled extremely quickly."
And, of course, as the coach of all three formats of the game, I'd love to see that carried over into the lengthier formats.
Rahul Dravid: India need to be realistic it will be a big role for Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya
But it's fantastic to watch Umran in the nets because you can see he's got that pace. "Clearly, he's gaining knowledge." He's a young boy who is always growing and learning.
The more he is able to play, the better he will become. In our opinion, having someone like him on board is excellent.
"We'll see how much playing time we can give him, but we also have to be realistic; we have a large squad, and it's impossible to give everyone a chance to start."
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