India begins practice minus Hardik versus South Africa

Team India began practicing on Monday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, ahead of the opening T20I of the five-match series against South Africa.

The players were spotted sweating it out in Delhi’s scorching weather, however Hardik Pandya, the newly crowned IPL captain, was absent from the squad because he has yet to join the team.

‘No, he hasn’t joined us yet.’ However, he may be able to join us by tomorrow. Everything is great, and you will see him on the ground on June 9,’ according to a BCCI insider.

Hardik will be making his Team India comeback after a successful time in the IPL 2022, where he led Gujarat Titans to the title in their inaugural season.

Due to the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the series, Team India will be headed by KL Rahul, with Rishabh Pant as vice-captain.

Pacers Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik received their first Team India call-up for the series after outstanding performances in the IPL 2022.