Auqib Nabi and Naman Dhir have earned maiden ODI call-ups for the home series against the West Indies beginning on September 27. With the three-match ODI series clashing with the Asian Games, the selectors have had to ensure there is no overlap between the two squads. All-rounder Nitish Kumar, who was originally part of the Asian Games contingent, has been pulled out of the multi-sport event and instead included in the ODI squad.
While there was speculation during the ODIs against England in July that Rohit Sharma may no longer be part of India’s plans, the senior opener shrugged off the chatter by scoring a hundred in the final game at Lord’s. Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja are all part of the ODI series against the men from the Caribbean, providing vast experience to the Shubman Gill-led squad. Hardik Pandya, who hasn’t played since the IPL due to injury, will have to wait for his return. He is likely to feature for India-A in three One-Dayers against Australia-A in Puducherry from October 6 to 11.
India will also be playing five T20Is against the West Indies. Jasprit Bumrah, who will spearhead the attack at the Asian Games, has been rested for these matches.
The selectors also announced the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup against Jammu & Kashmir, which will be played from October 1 to 5 at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar. Rishabh Pant, who has been omitted from the matches against WI, will lead the Rest of India squad.
India’s ODI squad vs. WI: Shubman Gill (Capt.), K.L. Rahul (Vice-capt.), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Nitish Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Naman Dhir.
India’s T20I squad vs. WI: Shreyas Iyer (Capt.), Tilak Varma (Vice-capt.), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav.
Schedule for series against WI: ODIs: Sept. 27: Thiruvananthapuram; Sept. 30: Guwahati; Oct. 3: New Chandigarh.
T20Is: Oct. 6: Lucknow; Oct. 9: Ranchi; Oct. 11: Indore; Oct. 14: Hyderabad; Oct. 17: Bengaluru.
Rest of India squad: Rishabh Pant (Capt. & wk), Sarfaraz Khan (Vice-capt.), Sanat Sangwan, Shikhar Mohan, Sudip Gharami, Smaran Ravichandran, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Akash Deep*, Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Choudhary, Aryan Juyal (wk), Aryan Pandey, Anukul Roy, Ayush Doseja.
Updated Asian Games squad: Shreyas (Capt.), Tilak (Vice-capt.), Abhishek, Samson (wk), Kishan (wk), Dube, Axar, Washington, Bishnoi, Bumrah, Arshdeep, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Vipraj Nigam.
