After the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded on Sunday, the Indian cricket team is all set to arrive in New Delhi on June 5 for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. India and South Africa will facing each other in the first match in Delhi on June 9. "Both the teams will undergo RT-PCR testing on the arrival at their respective hotels. Since there is no bio-bubble for this tournament, both the teams will undergo regular RT-PCR testing on the arrival and after that, the tests will be conducted every day," a source from DDCA told ANI.
"Teams are arriving on June 5 and we have made all the necessary arrangements for this match and hoping for a full house show. There will also be a green corridor for teams to enter the stadium."
As Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been rested from the series, Team India will be led by KL Rahul while Rishabh Pant will be the vice-captain. After delivering great performances in IPL 2022, pacers Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik got their maiden Team India call-up for the series.
In a conversation with NDTV, Arshdeep talked about his immediate feelings after being named in the T20I squad and how over the years, he managed to nail the art of bowling yorkers.
"We were travelling in the team bus on Sunday when I got the message of being picked (in Indian T20I side), then I did not feel much on how to react as we were going for the game. Right now, I am feeling really good as congratulatory messages are still coming in and my family is also being congratulated. I am grateful after being picked in the squad," Arshdeep told NDTV.
When asked how he prepares for every game, the young pacer said: "You always have butterflies in your stomach, no matter how much cricket you play. The excitement to play cricket is always there in a cricketer. But when you get the role clarity from your team, it makes things easier in terms of execution. I follow my routines and processes before each game and I try to make sure I do not miss them."
India's squad: KL Rahul (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain)(WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.