Putting all speculations on split captaincy to rest, the Indian national selectors have announced Virat Kohli as the captain for all the three formats for the series against West Indies, starting from 3 August.
In the series, the Men in Blue will play three T20Is, three ODIs followed by two Tests. It is a month long tour with the final test on August 30. Announcing the squad in Mumbai on Sunday, chief selector MSK Prasad informed about the players and each leg of the tour.
India’s squad for 2 Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, C Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (WK) Wriddhiman Saha (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 21, 2019
India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 21, 2019
India’s squad for 3 T20Is: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 21, 2019
Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane will be the Vice Captain in the limited-overs and Test series respectively. The current coaching staff, including head coach Ravi Shastri, are given a contract extension for this tour and India’s home series against South Africa.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya has been rested for the entire tournament and Jasprit Bumrah will be available only for the Tests. Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan, who has recovered completely from his thumb injury, returns to the international circuit.
Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini are the new faces added in the ODI squad. MS Dhoni will not be a part of the team as the former Indian skipper has decided to spend the next two months with his regiment.
Wicket-keeper batsman, Wriddhiman Saha will return to the test squad after undergoing a shoulder surgery. Leg spinner, Rahul Chahar is the new face in the T20 squad and Rishabh Pant is the sole specialist wicketkeeper for the limited-overs leg of the tour.
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— Rahul Chahar (@rdchahar1) July 21, 2019
Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey are included in the limited-overs teams, as the selectors look to solidify the No. 4 spot. KL Rahul, who didn’t do much on any of the recent tours, is lucky to survive the Test axe. Deepak Chahar, who has played an ODI and a T20 for India, has been picked in the T20 team.
We can definitely expect some fine cricket in the coming month.
