Mumbai, January 26: India on Wednesday (January 26) announced their ODI and T20I squads for the home series against the West Indies, beginning on February 6. Rohit Sharma will lead in both ODIs and T20Is. Rohit had cleared his fitness test at the NCA on Wednesday, and his return was a mere formality.
Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav made a comeback after a gap and young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi got his maiden call to national team. But two veterans, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and off-spinner R Ashwin, have been dropped from ODI squad. But Bhuvneshwar at least got a chance in the T20I squad. Both were part of the ODI squad in South Africa.
India will be without the service of pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami as they have been rested for the series. The BCCI stated in a media release that all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was not considered for the series against the West Indies because he is in the final stage of the recovery and need not be pushed.
However, hard-hitting middle-order batsman Deepak Hooda got a rather surprise call to the India side in place of Venkatesh Iyer, who had made his debut in the ODI series against South Africa. But Venkatesh found a place in the T20I side. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who was recently got married, will be available for T20Is.
Bishnoi has been one of the finds of the Indian Premier League for the Punjab outfit and has been picked up by new franchise Lucknow Supergiants from the drafts for the next IPL.
Kuldeep, who had lost his mojo in the latter stages of the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri era, has been called back as the current team management and selectors feel that he has the X-factor to contribute to the team's cause. He underwent a knee surgery in September last year after curtailing his IPL 2021 stint.
ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan
T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel.