BCCI announces India’s squad for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand which kickstarts from November 17. Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the new T20I skipper of the side while Virat Kohli has been rested for the entire series.
India’s Squad for NZ Series
After a painful exit in T20 World Cup 2021, India makes a handful of changes in their T20I squad. Apart from the new skipper, India will now have their former skipper Rahul Dravid as their new head coach.
India will mainly focus on the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 which is scheduled to play in October and November 2022 in Australia.
Originally, the tournament was to be held in 2020, however, in July 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that the tournament had been postponed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To prepare a team with young generation players Indian selectors decided to give more opportunities to the young players who shined in both IPL 2021 and the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Rohit’s appointment was a formality and KL Rahul will be his new deputy in the shortest format. Team India is expected to set a new high in T20I format while playing under Rohit Sharma who has impressive captaincy records in the IPL tournament.
Pandya has been dropped from the squad after failing to make an impact during the T20 World Cup.
The new-look team also has IPL’s highest run-getter Ruturaj Gaikwad and top wicket-taker Harshal Patel in the squad of 16 along with Venkatesh Iyer, who is seen as a potential all-rounder replacement for the injury-ravaged Hardik Pandya. Ruturaj has already played for India in the Sri Lanka series.
Senior leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal rightfully got his place in the squad back while Mohammed Siraj, who has played a few T20Is in the past, is also in the team.
Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, and Deepak Chahar, who were in the T20 World Cup reserves are now in the main squad. Pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and spinner Ravindra Jadeja have also been given much-needed rest for the short series.
India’s T20I squad
Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj.
