India T20 Squad Against West Indies: 5 Key Takeaways -- from Virat Kohli's absence to Ashwin's return

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Mumbai, July 14: The India squad for the five-match T20I series against the West Indies was announced on Thursday (July 14) and as is the vaunt, there have been some quirks and some unanswered questions that fuelled speculations and then those picks that went on expected lines.

So, here is a detailed analysis of the India squad for the West Indies T20I series 2022.

1 Is Kohli dropped or rested?

Even ahead of the squad selection, it has been speculated widely that Kohli would not be included in the side to tour West Indies. Several reports suggested that it was Kohli himself had asked for a break after the tour of England. It would have been tough for the selectors to include him in the squad considering his shabby form of late, but a groin injury to Kohli ahead of the first ODI against England might just have spared them the tough times.

So, it is safe to assume that Kohli was rested. But the question remains that if his injury is grave then why is he playing the on-going ODI series against England? Or was it a asked-for leave as it was reported earlier? We will know at some point.

2 Bumrah, Chahal rested

Jasprit Burman and Yuzvendra Chahal have been playing since the tour of England and Ireland, the pacer in Tests and white ball formats and the leggie in the T20Is and ODIs. So, considering the workload ahead both Bumrah and Chahal have given rest. Though the BCCI did not specify any reason behind their non-inclusion, we can assume that the 'drop’ word would not have been associated with both of them.

3 Long rope for Shreyas Iyer

The elegant right-hander from Mumbai has been included in the squad for the West Indies T20Is. But his recent form is anything but encouraging. The opposition has found out a chink in his armour — the weakness against short ball and they squeezing him with that. From the home limited-over series against South Africa Shreyas’ scores in top-flight have been — 36, 40, 14, 4, 0, 15, 19, 28. But the management has given him some more time as he has delivered in the past across the formats.

4 R Ashwin returns

The veteran spinner was not included in the white ball series against England. But by drafting Ashwin in the T20I squad for the series against the West Indies, the selectors have hinted he is very much in their scheme of things for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in October. Ashwin’s latest T20 outing was in the IPL 2022 for Rajasthan Royals were he played an impactful role in leading his side to the final.

5 Where is Sanju Samson?

Ever since the squad for the West Indies was announced, fans were wondering why Sanju Samson was not selected. In the lone T20I he played against Ireland last month, Sanju had made a fine fifty. But he was excluded from the India squad for the 2nd and 3rd T20Is against England and now against the West Indies as well. So, when can we see Sanju back in action? It will possibly happen in the series against Zimbabwe next month. But Sanju deserved a better and consistent run.

6 India Squad

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.