Last Thursday (29th August) night, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming home T20I series against South Africa. However, the BCCI had the actual schedule to announce this squad in early September. The latest media reports have revealed why the BCCI has taken this early decision.
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Currently, the India national cricket team is busy in the Caribbean tour where they are playing the last Test against the hosts. One day ahead of this Test match, the national selectors have announced the squad for the next home T20I series.
However, according to the media reports, the BCCI had the actual schedule to announce the T20I squad against South Africa on 4th September. But they were forced to take an early decision on the Indian squad due to the change of sponsorship.
BYJU’S – the Bengaluru based learning app – is the new team sponsor of Indian national cricket team. The Chinese consumer electronics and mobile communications company OPPO was the previous team sponsor who had the initial contract from 2017 to 2022. However, OPPO has recently withdrawn its team sponsor position, and soon, BYJU’S has replaced them.
Recently, the kit sponsor Nike has requested to the BCCI to announce the T20I squad for the upcoming home series earlier which can give them enough time to perfectly prepare all the players’ jerseys.
However, the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri has claimed that it was the logistical issue to announce the national squad earlier.
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According to the media reports, the national selectors received a notice about earlier team selection on Thursday morning. As the selectors were in different places, they met through the teleconference.
Hardik Pandya replaced Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the India T20I squad
Later, they announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming home T20I series against South Africa. Apart from Hardik Pandya replacing Bhuvneshwar Kumar, it was the similar squad that featured in the last T20I series against Windies in the USA and West Indies.
South Africa will begin their upcoming India tour with the three-match T20I series. Dharamshala, Mohali and Bengaluru will host the T20Is of this series on 15th, 18th and 22nd September 2019. After this T20I series, India will host the three-match Test series against South Africa in October.