India vs south africa: ms dhoni unlikely to be picked by selectors as team set to retain rishabh pant

Rishabh Pant may be retained while the second and third option is Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has completed his army duties in Jammu and Kashmir and has made himself

available for the upcoming series against South Africa. However, he is unlikely to be selected for India's three-match T20 home series starting September 15 in Dharamsala. The remaining

two games will be played at Mohali (September 18) and Bengaluru (September 22) and the team for the same is expected to be picked on September 4. With Team India having a whitewash against

West Indies, it is likely that Rishabh Pant may be retained. The selection committee may want to continue with the young wicketkeeper keeping the World T20 in Australia in October 2020 in

mind. "There are only 22 T20 Internationals before India play their first World T20 game and selectors are clear in their vision that it's time to move forward," a senior BCCI

official privy to developments in selection committee told _PTI _on Wednesday. It is still unclear whether the BCCI or the selection committee will speak to Dhoni as the former skipper put

his international retirement on hold. "Retirement is an individual decision and selectors or for that matter, no one has any right to decide on that front. But they have every right to

decide the roadmap for the 2020 World T20 and that's to give Rishabh Pant maximum chances," the official explained. According to _PTI_, it is also learned that the second and third

option for the selection committee is Sanju Samson and India A regular Ishan Kishan. A few members of the selection committee will be in Thiruvananthapuram for the India A-series and

Samson's performance will be watched closely. While in batting, Samson is ready for top-level cricket, his wicket-keeping is still work in progress. "Pant scored a fifty in the

last T20 that he played. Ishan Kishan is in the A set-up. Do we even have an option of looking back when we need consistent big hitters on big Australian grounds?" the official

questioned.