India vs South Africa: What India will be looking to gain from five-match T20I series

cricket fans will shift to the upcoming five-match T20I series between India and South Africa, starting from Thursday. As the road to men's T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November this year resumes, India will look to zero in on their squad while offering a chance to newbies to showcase their skills. Here is what to keep an eye on as far as the hosts are concerned:

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Young pace sensations Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh have been rewarded for their outstanding IPL performances as they were selected for the upcoming five-match T20I home series against South Africa.

Newcomers in pace attackWith no Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for this series, India have brought in tearaway right-arm quick Umran Malik and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh. Amongst the uncapped Indian pacers who made a splash in IPL 2022, Malik and Singh earned their maiden T20I squad call-ups. There is an element of excitement in what the young pace duo brings to the table. Malik, 22, has sheer pace, consistently clocking speeds above 150kph and was used as a middle-overs enforcer by Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022, picking 19 wickets in that phase, something which the Indian management have taken note of.

(Umran Malik, left, and Arshdeep Singh - Photos: Agency/BCCI/IPL)At the other end, Singh, 23, isn't as quick as Malik. But Singh, a left-arm pacer, brings superb death-bowling skills to close out an innings, as his death-overs economy rate of 7.58 in IPL 2022, which is second-best in the tournament after Bumrah's 7.38, shows. Singh and Bumrah also shared the honours of bowling the most yorkers in the tournament -- 38. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan