Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, who had been rested from the ODI series against Sri Lanka, has been rested for the T20 series too. In Kohli’s absence, Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in the limited-over format.
For T20Is, three new faces – 18-year-old Tamil Nadu’s all-rounder Washington Sundar, Baroda batsman Deepak Hooda and Kerala quick Basil Thampi have been included in the side.
Saurashtra seamer Jaydev Unadkat, who last played an international cricket match in June 2016, has also been named as his performances in the IPL earlier this year were quite impressive.
K.L. Rahul, who hasn’t played limited-overs internationals since September, might be given chance to open with Rohit as Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have also been rested from the T20 squad.
Meanwhile, Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has made place for himself in the Test squad for the upcoming three-match series against South Africa. Bumrah has been named in the 17-member team for the series, which starts from Jan. 5 in Cape Town. Wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel has also found a spot in the Test squad.
Keeping the South African pitches in mind, and emphasising on the pace, India opted for two front-line spinners in R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who had been rested for the Sri Lanka Tests, has also made a comeback in the squad.
Indian Team for T20 series: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), K.L. Rahul, M.S. Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Deepak Hooda, Basil Thampi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey.
India team for South Africa Test Series: Virat Kohli (Capt.), M. Vijay, K.L. Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Capt), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel (WK), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
This post was published on December 5, 2017 6:33 pm