No Virat Kohli as Team India’s squad for T20I series in West Indies is announced; Ravichandran Ashwin makes a comeback
Team India announced their squad for the five-match series in West Indies on Thursday, July 14. As has been widely speculated in recent days, Virat Kohli’s name is missing from the 18-member squad. Earlier, Kohli was also rested for the three-match ODI series against the West Indies.
The 33-year-old did not feature in the first ODI against England due to a groin injury and there are reports that he could miss the second one-dayer on Thursday (July 14) at Lord’s as well.
Another major development is the inclusion of veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was not part of the T20Is in England earlier this month.
The selection committee has named experienced batter KL Rahul and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the squad for the T20Is. However, the inclusion of the duo is subject to fitness.
Out of the team that was named for the last two T20Is against England, senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal have been rested. There is also no place for young speedster Umran Malik, who has proved to be expensive in the few T20Is that he has played.
Rohit Sharma (C), I Kishan, KL Rahul*, Suryakumar Yadav, D Hooda, S Iyer, D Karthik, R Pant, H Pandya, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, R Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav*, B Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
*Inclusion of KL Rahul & Kuldeep Yadav is subject to fitness.
Among youngsters, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh have retained their place in the T20I squad.
The five T20Is, which will be crucial keeping the upcoming World Cup in mind, will be played from July 29 to August 7.
India’s squad for 5 T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul*, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav*, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
*The inclusion of KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav is subject to fitness.
Shikhar Dhawan to lead ODI team in West Indies
The BCCI had earlier announced the one-day team for the ODI series against West Indies. Veteran batter Shikhar Dhawan was named India’s captain for ODIs while all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was picked as vice-captain.
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Skipper Rohit, Kohli, Bumrah, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and keeper-batter Rishabh Pant have also been rested for the one-day series, which will be played from July 22 to July 27.
India’s squad for West Indies ODIs: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.