INDIA: The 18-person Indian team for the five T20Is beginning later this month in the Caribbean is without Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Yuzvendra Chahal. KL Rahul might make a comeback for the Rohit Sharma-led team, pending a fitness check.
Bumrah has been rested, according to various sources, while Kohli, who sustained a “minor groyne strain” in England, is still on the team management’s T20 World Cup roster.
Ashwin returned to strengthen India’s spin department, including Kuldeep Yadav (subject to fitness), Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja, who hasn’t played in India’s T20I team since the home series against New Zealand in November. The T20Is will be played in the interim by Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant, who was rested for the ODI leg.
The selectors chose left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh to lead the seam bowling unit alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, and Harshal Patel, leaving no room in the team for the rookie tearaway fast Umran Malik.
Malik participated in the just-finished T20I series in England, which India won 2-1, after making his T20I debut in Ireland. He only played once in Nottingham and gave up 1 for 56 from his four overs. In the first T20I saw Arshdeep make a a strong debut, taking 2 for 18 while troubling England’s openers with a late swing.
Rohit publically supported Kohli before the T20I series in England, despite Kohli’s recent string of poor performances that have sparked ongoing discussions over the legitimacy of his leadership.
When asked if Kohli’s lack of runs and the experts’ calls for his dismissal put him in a bad situation, Rohit responded last week, “I don’t know who the experts are. “Even their designation as specialists baffles me. They observe it from the outside and are unaware of what is happening inside. We’re assembling a crew. There is a great deal of thought behind it. There has been a lot of thought put into it. Boys have support. Chances are offered to boys. Outsiders are unaware of all these details. What is happening outside is unimportant.”
If Rahul rejoins the starting XI, Ishan Kishan will act as the backup opener and second wicketkeeper. Rahul is presently at the NCA in Bengaluru after returning from a sports hernia operation in Germany in late June.
He has been out since the beginning of June when the sickness returned just before the start of the home series against South Africa. Rahul, who had initially been selected for the Edgbaston Test against England due to a groyne issue, was later removed from the squad for the procedure. Rahul had previously led the brand-new team Lucknow Super.
Giants to the IPL 2022 playoffs with 616 runs scored in 15 innings, an average of 51.33 runs per inning, with a strike rate of 135.38, he finished the season as the second-highest run-scorer. Rahul was only surpassed in run scoring by Jos Buttler.
In Kohli’s absence, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav have all been kept in the lineup. Deepak Hooda scored his first T20I century in Ireland in June.
Without the senior players, Shikhar Dhawan will lead India in an ODI series to kick off their Caribbean tour. The first of the five T20 Internationals will take place on July 29 in Tarouba. The series will then move to St. Kitts for games on August 1 and 2 before concluding in Florida on August 6 and 7.
India’s squad for the five T20Is: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Although the inclusion of Kuldeep and Rahul will depend upon their fitness condition.
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