India has announced their T20I squad for the upcoming series against West Indies, as well as the series later this year against Australia. While the 16-member team consists mostly of all the notable names, there is one major exception.
World T20 2007 winning captain MS Dhoni has been dropped from the squad for both the series, with selectors preferring to go with the young and dynamic Rishabh Pant and veteran Dinesh Karthik.
Ever since India made their debut in the format, Dhoni has been a regular. He had captained the side to victory in the inaugural World T20, and had been the skipper till 2017. The Indian cricket team has so far played 104 T20Is, and ‘Mahi’ has featured in 93 of them.
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“The T20Is here and in Australia, he [Dhoni] is not going to play, because we are also looking at a second wicketkeeper. That will be between Rishabh and Dinesh Karthik. So they will be getting a chance to keep and bat,” chief selector MSK Prasad said on Friday.
For the T20Is against West Indies, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been rested, with Rohit Sharma to deputize as captain in his place. There is a place in the squad for left-arm off spinner Shabaz Nadeem, Krunal Pandya and Washington Sundar. India and West Indies will take on each other in three T20Is starting November 4.
India squad for T20Is against West Indies: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem
As for the series against Australia, there will be only changed to the squad. Kohli will fly with the squad, while Nadeeem will stay back at home. The two teams will play three T20Is at the end of November.
India squad for T20Is against Australia: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed