5 players who missed out on India's T20I squad to face New Zealand
Amidst reports that star players will be rested and youngsters will be given an opportunity, India's squad for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand featured the usual suspects. While there were a couple of surprise inclusions in the form of Shreyas Iyer and Mohammed Siraj, the majority of the team remained the same.
India squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra and Mohammed Siraj.
However, there were a few players who were unlucky to not make the cut and feature in what would Ashish Nehra's farewell series. Here are 5 players who missed out on India's T20I squad to face New Zealand:
Mohammed Shami
While Mohammed Shami features in the squad for the first two Tests against Sri Lanka, his omission from the T20I squad means that he would have played just a solitary international game in three months going into the Test series. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah establishing themselves as the first choice fast bowling pair in limited-overs Shami has found it difficult to find a place in the side.
While he played all three Tests in Sri Lanka and looks set to play all three at home against the same opponents, a few more games would have done him no harm at all. His six-wicket haul against Chhattisgarh in the last round of the Ranji Trophy is proof that he is fit and ready to go.
A couple of international matches ahead of a home series against Sri Lanka would have been ideal preparation while also affording some rest to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been playing non-stop all-year long.