BCCI has named Rohit Sharma as Team India ODI captain for the West Indies Tour. The 18-member ODI and T20I squads for Team India’s white-ball series versus Kieron Pollard-led West Indies on Wednesday (January 26).
As reported earlier Rohit Sharma had passed the fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) Bengaluru, Hitman has returned to the squad after missing the entire South Africa tour.
Rohit was appointed as the white-ball captain in early December 2021, however, he missed leading the side in the three ODIs in South Africa due to hamstring injury. Nonetheless, he has returned as Rohit will gear up to play his first ODI series since early 2021.
BCCI rests Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for West Indies ODI Tour 2022
In addition, there are some big updates with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami being rested. Limited-overs vice-captain KL Rahul will be available from the second ODI onwards whereas spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel will feature only in the T20Is.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, however, remained unfit and couldn’t return to the line-up, failing to recovering from his knee injury. BCCI Selectors didn’t include Hardik Panya as well, in any of the squads, as they aren’t fully confident of his ability to deliver as an all-rounder due to fitness concerns.
R Ashwin, meanwhile, is not in any squads for being unavailable for selection and the offie is undergoing treatment. Bhuvneshwar Kumar held onto his T20I spot but isn’t in the scheme of things for ODIs.
The biggest talking point is the addition of some domestic and IPL star players such as Deepak Hooda and Ravi Bishnoi. Hooda, Harshal Patel are named in the ODI and T20I squad, respectively, whereas Bishnoi is part of both ODIs and T20Is.
Kuldeep Yadav also makes a return to the ODI setup. Pacers Md Siraj and Avesh Khan have been backed for both the white-balls series whereas Prasidh Krishna is part of the 50-over squad. Nonetheless, there was no room for Himachal’s star Rishi Dhawan, who has had a stellar run in the domestic circuit of late.
India will lock horns with West Indies in three ODIs and equal number of T20Is in early February, starting on the 6th. The ODIs will be held in Ahmedabad and the T20Is will take place in Kolkata. The BCCI had recently revised the schedule, to not have the ODIs clash with the IPL 2022 mega auction, and also narrowed down the total venues from six to two cities due to Covid-19 crisis.
Squad for WI series – BCCI Selects Rohit Sharma to lead the team
ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), KL Rahul (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), D Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan
T20I squad: Rohit Sharma(Capt),KL Rahul (vc),Ishan Kishan,Virat Kohli,Shreyas Iyer,Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk),Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel
