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The Sri Lanka tour will be the first series for the India women's team in the post-Mithali Raj era, as the country's long-time captain recently announced her retirement from all forms of international cricket. "India Women's Team led by Harmanpreet Kaur arrives in Sri Lanka. India and Sri Lanka will play three T20Is in Dambulla on June 23, 25 and 27 followed by as many ODIs on July 1, 4 and 7," tweeted Sri Lanka Cricket.
A young Indian cricket team, led by Rishabh Pant, riding high on back-to-back wins over South Africa in the five-match T20I series, will aim for a brilliant series win when it gets down to action in Bengaluru on Sunday. After being comprehensively beaten by the Temba Bavuma-led visitors in the first two matches, India rode on some spirited showing from the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Avesh Khan among others to restore parity in the series. With a couple of key members of the South African team nursing injuries, India will fancy their chances in the final T20I.
Having played his first T20I in 2006, Dinesh Karthik is still marching on in the shortest format of the game and 16 years later, he registered his maiden T20I fifty against South Africa in the fourth game of the five-match series on Friday, helping India level the series. The 37-year-old went on to play a knock of 55 runs off just 27 balls with the help of 9 fours and 2 sixes.
The India vs South Africa T20I series has been a roller-coaster ride so far. While the Proteas won the first two matches in dominating fashion, the hosts ruled the roost in the following two. With the series evenly poised at 2-2, it now goes to the decider which will be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. With a lot at stake, both the sides would aim to put their best foot forward in the winner-takes-all contest.
"It’s an incredible story!"
With the T20 World Cup set to be held later this year in Australia, Team India faces a selection dilemma with only a handful of games left before the start of the tournament. While the management has given several newcomers a chance to impress in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa, it is still not clear whether veteran pacer Mohammed Shami will make the cut to the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup. Former India pacer Ashish Nehra said that although Shami might not play in the T20 World Cup in Australia, the managers should "definitely" consider Shami for next year's ODI World Cup at home.
While the Indian cricket team will feel enthused about Dinesh Karthik's form since his international comeback in the ongoing T20 International series against South Africa, Rishabh Pant's form will be a matter of concern for them. India are playing the series against South Africa without some senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, while KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav are unavailable with injury. With those four players set to feature in India's playing XI when they go to Australia for the T20 World Cup in October-November, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik also seem to have consolidated their positions in the team with their performances.
But rain may play spoilsport in deciderBENGALURU: To make a comeback, one of the most essential requirements is a setback. For proof, you don't have to look beyond Dinesh Karthik. In a T20 international career in its 17th year, the 37-year-old has played 36 matches. Before the ongoing series against South Africa, the wicketkeeper-batsman had last featured for India in the format in the 2018-19 season. After making a comeback on the back of his exploits in the Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Karthik is not just achieving personal milestones, but has also turned out to be an inspiration for a young Indian team.