Revealed why MS Dhoni included in India's T20I squad, Rishabh Pant dropped from ODI side

New Delhi, Dec 25: Veteran India cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni has once again been included in India's T20 squad while young Rishabh Pant was dropped from the ODI side for the upcoming series against Australia and New Zealand.

Dhoni's selection in the T20I squad came as a surprise to many as the selectors had dropped him from the series against West Indies and Australia, just a month ago. Pant's omission is an indication that the 23-year-old is currently not in the team management's scheme of things for the 2019 World Cup.

India squad for Australia, NZ ODI series

When asked about Dhoni's inclusion in the shortest format the selectors have revealed that they want to ensure the 37-year-old gets "enough game-time" before the ODI World Cup.

A source privy to the development, on condition of anonymity, justified Dhoni's selection and was quoted by PTI as saying, "Since there are only eight ODIs (three against Australia and five against New Zealand), selectors want to give MS as much game time as possible (before the World Cup). Three T20Is means 11 international matches through the next one month."

The 16-member squad for the twin ODI series against Australia (starting January 12) and New Zealand (starting January 23) is pretty much the core team for the World Cup in England that starts May 30.

The three T20 Internationals against the Kiwis are lined up from February 6. The selection committee's decision to bring back Dhoni is set to raise a few eyebrows as the logic given before the Australia T20s was that he was not going to be in the scheme of things for the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020. The former captain is already retired from the Test format.

"That's the reason Rishabh is a part of T20 squad. Also now with Kedar (Jadhav) and Hardik (Pandya) are fit and Kedar being an off-break bowler, it will be difficult for the team management to fit in Rishabh in playing XI in the World Cup unless someone gets injured. Already Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul are there in case MS gets injured," he added.

Interestingly, skipper Virat Kohli, when asked about Dhoni's T20 omission in November, had stated that the veteran had offered to give up the format so that Pant could be groomed for the job.

"...he (Dhoni) just feels that in the T20 format, someone like Rishabh can get more chances," Kohli had said last month.

From the last T20I squad, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey have been dropped as Hardik expectedly made a comeback and Kedar was also included to give him more game time.

The squad is also an indicator that till the World Cup, all doors are closed for Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and premier spinner R Ashwin.

The squads: India's squad for ODI series against Australia and New Zealand: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami.

India's squad for T20I series against New Zealand: Virat Kohli(Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed.

(With inputs from PTI)