MSD opts out of the tour; Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini makes a cut

The Indian cricket team will be without the services of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD) for the upcoming West Indies tour starting from Aug.3. The former Indian skipper made himself unavailable for the limited-overs matches in the Caribbean as he would be serving his Paramilitary Regiment for a couple of months.

Taking MSD’s place will be Rishabh Pant, who has been named as a first choice wicket-keeper. Bengal’s wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha has been named in the Test squad. Making his debut will be Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini, who has been named for both T20Is and ODIs teams. The All-India Senior Selection Committee Chairman M.S.K. Prasad announced the teams yesterday.

India are set to play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests from Aug.3 to Sept.3, 2019. Indian squad is as follows:

T20Is: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice-Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (Wicket-Keeper), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar and Navdeep Saini

ODIs: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini.

Tests: Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Mayank Agarwal, K.L. Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Pant (WK), Wriddhiman Saha (WK), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Md. Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.