Rahul Dravid hints at roles of Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya; explains Rohit's absence

After the completion of the IPL, the team is currently camped in Delhi, where they will play the first game of the series before the action heads to Cuttack, Visakapatnam, Rajkot and then Bengaluru.

While there are plenty of new faces in the squad, there are a few familiar old ones returning to the India setup, including Dinesh Karthik.

Karthik, who has played 94 ODIs and 32 T20Is, hasn't played in the shortest format for India since 2019. However, a brilliant IPL, where he scored 330 runs for RCB in 16 matches at a strike rate of 183, made it difficult for the selectors to ignore him.

Speaking on what sort of role Karthik is expected to play, Rahul Dravid said that Karthik will be expected to play the same role that has helped him force his way back into the Indian side.

"With Dinesh, it's pretty obvious," said Dravid. "It's very clear that he has made a comeback based on the skills that he has shown in a particular phase of the game. At that backend, Dinesh has really been able to show great consistency for the last 2 to 3 years. He has been able to make a difference in whichever team he has played.

"I don't see it any different and that's why he has been picked. He has been picked to bat in that kind of position and see whether he can replicate those kind of performances for India."

One other player who is back and firing is Hardik Pandya. The all-rounder has been in and out of the white-ball setup owing to injuries but recently enjoyed a sensational IPL campaign, both as a player and as a captain.

Dravid was excited to have Hardik back into the mix, both as a batter and bowler but hinted at him playing a different role to the one he played with Gujarat where he batted higher at No.4.

"It's really pleasing to have him back," said Dravid. "Hardik at his best is a fantastic cricketer with the bat and ball. We have seen that with India in the past. Obviously, he has been successful in white-ball cricket and has shown really good form in this IPL.

"Without giving too much away about the batting orders before the game starts, sometimes the roles that you play with the franchise match the roles that you play for India but sometimes you have to play different roles for different teams.

"Based on our team combination and the players who are already established in certain positions, that can happen from time to time."

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One of the most anticipated additions to the squad was Umran Malik. The tearaway pacer had a breakthrough campaign, where he finished fourth in the list of Purple Cap with 23 wickets.

Dravid was excited to have the youngster in the squad but suggested that patience would be key in his growth as a player.

"Yeah, it is exciting. He certainly bowled quick and with pace", said Dravid. "Another exciting thing for me was watching the IPL from the outside is the number of Indian bowlers bowling really fast. And obviously, being the coach of all three formats of the game, I would love to see that translated into the longer formats of the game. But it is brilliant in terms of watching Umran in the nets, you can see that he has got that pace.

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"Obviously, he is learning. He is a young boy and he is getting better, improving all the time. The more he is able to play, the better he is going to get. From our perspective, very happy to have someone like him in the mix.

"We have to see how much playing time we can give him, we also have to be realistic, we have a large squad, and it is not possible to give everyone playing XI time. I think I am certainly someone who likes to have that consistency, give people time and let them settle in their positions. It would be interesting time to see how much playing time we give to Umran, we also have Arshdeep here who is brilliant as well."

India will be without their regular captain Rohit Sharma, in the absence of whom, KL Rahul will lead the side in the five games against South Africa.

On Rohit's absence, Dravid spoke about the importance of managing workload, especially for players playing in all three formats.

"Rohit is our all-format player. It would be unwise to expect everyone to be available every single game, every single time", said Dravid.

"We want to ensure that they are fit for the big tournaments, we need to manage them before that to ensure that they are peaking at the big games. Obviously, with the one-off Test match in the UK, which was a spillover from last year, we need to ensure that we are able to get the best side available for that Test match.

"With the kind of busy schedule that we have, it doesn't bother us. We understand that there are times we will have to rest our big players and we may not be able to field our strongest side all the time but it is also an exciting opportunity for a lot of younger guys, which they probably might not have got. It helps us improve the depth of our squad, so there are some positives as well."

After the series against South Africa, India will travel to the UK where they will play England (one-off Test, three ODIs and three T20Is) and Ireland (two T20Is). The limited-overs legs will be crucial for India heading into the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia.