On Friday night (October 26), the 16-man Indian squad has been announced for the upcoming three-match home T20I series against Windies, starting on November 4. Indian skipper Virat Kohli and the former skipper MS Dhoni both have been rested from the entire series.
There are some important changes in the Indian T20I squad from their last series on the England tour. While the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and the wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni have been rested from the series, Rohit Sharma will lead the T20I side and Rishabh Pant & Dinesh Karthik both are in the squad as the regular wicketkeeper-batsman.
Also read: Aus vs Ind: MS Dhoni rested for T20I series
Shreyas Iyer has been added in the T20I squad who played his last T20I match against Sri Lanka at Mumbai on December 24, 2017. While injured Hardik Pandya is still out from the Indian squad, his elder brother Krunal Pandya has managed to stay in the T20I squad, who hasn’t made his international debut yet.
Also read: Ind vs WI: Kedar Jadhav Comes Back For The Last Two ODIs
Off-spinner Washington Sundar has been included in the squad, who was the joint leading wicket-taker in the 2018 Nidahas Trophy in last March. He was also in the UK tour but missed the whole international matches in those tours due to an ankle injury.
The left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem has earned his maiden international call-up. Meanwhile, the right-arm pacers Siddarth Kaul and Deepak Chahar both have been dropped out, who made their international cricket debuts during the UK tour.
Also read: Aus vs Ind: Murali Vijay Returns To The Test Squad, Hardik Pandya Not Fit
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah is in the T20I squad with his pace-bowling partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed and Umesh Yadav are the other players who have retained their places in the T20I squad.
The no.2 T20I ranked team India won their last T20I series that was in the England tour and India won that series by the 2-1 margin. There was only one T20I bilateral series between India and Windies with more than one match and Windies won that by the 1-0 margin in the USA in 2016.
Full Indian squad for three-match home T20I series against Windies: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem.
Team for three T20I match series against Windies announced
Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar, KL Rahul, DK, Manish, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 26, 2018
Full schedule of three-match T20I series on Windies tour of India 2018/19
November 4: First T20I – Eden Gardens (Kolkata)
November 6: Second T20I – Ekana International Cricket Stadium (Lucknow)
November 11: Third T20I – M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai)