Mumbai, May 23: Virat Kohli and other regular players were today (May 23) not picked for India's limited overs tour to Zimbabwe next month (June 11-22). Mahendra Singh Dhoni was retained as captain of the squad which has many new faces.
Legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who has had an impressive run in the current Indian Premier League 2016 (IPL 9) was called up along with uncapped Mandeep Singh, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav and Faiz Fazal. Seniors Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were not included.
Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane were not picked. India will play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is in Zimbabwe.
According to the selection committee chairman Sandeep Patil, no player was "rested". "No one has been rested. No one wrote to BCCI or called us (to say) they were not available or they should be rested. It was the decision of the selection committee to pick a young side for Zimbabwe and another side for West Indies," Patil told reporters on Monday.
Vidarbha's left-handed opening batsman Fazal had hit a century (127) in Rest of India's win over Mumbai earlier this year. He had done well in Deodhar Trophy too and has been rewarded.
The selectors also announed a 17-member Test squad for the tour of West Indies in July and August. India will play 4 Tests. The schedule is yet to be finalised.
Virat Kohli will lead the side while Ajinkya Rahane has been handed the responsibility of vice-captaincy.
Uncapped Mumbai right-arm paceman Shardul Thakur was called up to the Test team while Varun Aaron and Gurkeerat Singh Mann were dropped.
The 24-year-old Thakur was Mumbai's highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy 2015-16 season. He took 41 wickets as the team clinched the title for a record 41st time.
India last played a Test series in December 2015, at home, against South Africa. They had won 3-0.
India's 16-man ODI and T20I squad for Zimbabwe tour
MS Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), KL Rahul, Faiz Fazal, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Ambati Rayudu, Rishi Dhawan, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah, Barinder Sran, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Jaydev Unadkat, Yuzvendra Chahal.
In - Rahul, Fazal, Nair, Rayudu, Dhawan, Patel, Yadav, Kulkarni, Mandeep, Jadhav, Unadkat, Chahal
Out - Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi, Ashish Nehra
India's 17-member Test Squad for West Indies tour
Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Stuart Binny.
In - Thakur, Shami
Out - Aaron, Gurkeerat
#TeamIndia for #ZimvInd ODIs and T20Is @msdhoni to lead the 16-member team pic.twitter.com/zxOP1GS7Dr
— BCCI (@BCCI) May 23, 2016
#TeamIndia for #WIvInd Tests - @imVkohli to lead 17-member team pic.twitter.com/55oSfwp25R
— BCCI (@BCCI) May 23, 2016
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