(Cricket news) India will be playing a T20I series for the first time since the IPL 2023 as they take on the West Indies away from home after the Test and ODI series. India have once again continued without senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. It is still very unclear whether the duo is rested to manage their workload or they are no longer part of the T20I set-up. Hardik Pandya is once again the captain with Suryakumar Yadav is his deputy. The squad was always expected to have significant changes after the IPL. It is a five-match series so all the players in the squad could get at least one game.
India’s squad:
Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
India’s last T20I series was against New Zealand at home back in February. Rahul Tripathi. Washington Sundar, Deepak Hooda, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar, Prithvi Shaw, and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been dropped. The only surprising one in that list is Ruturaj Gaikwad who hasn’t got a game since June 2022 against Ireland. He had a very good IPL and MPL season but he has still lost his place. The decision wouldn’t have been easy but it was clearly made because the selectors wanted to bring in the inform Yashasvi Jaiswal and also because Ishan Kishan had to keep his place as a wicketkeeper. The rest of the players were bound to be dropped after underwhelming IPL seasons.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Verma have gotten their maiden T20I call-ups after domestic success. Jaiswal is also in the Test squad so he is in line to make his debut in two formats on this tour. Axar Patel and Sanju Samson who were unavailable for the New Zealand series have both returned to the side. Ravi Bishnoi who was harshly dropped just before last year’s T20 World Cup is back in the squad but it may be difficult for him to get a game ahead of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Avesh Khan has also returned for the first time since the Asia Cup and he has a point to prove after an underwhelming international career so far.
The big name missing is that of Rinku Singh who has been consistently batting well in the IPL and in domestic cricket. It was always going to be between Rinku and Tilak but the latter has got the nod. The KKR batter had been playing the finisher’s role perfectly but unfortunately, there is no place for him. However, if he continues to bat the way he has been then it will be just a matter of time before he gets the call.
Also read: Should India let Shubman Gill bat at Number 3 against West Indies?
