New Delhi: Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik and Kuldeep Yadav have been picked in the Virat Kohli-led India squad for the tour of West Indies.
Rohit Sharma is a notable omission and the reason for that is still not clear. Jasprit Bumrah also not picked in the 15-man squad for five ODIs and only T20I.
Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami are the three seamers while Yadav, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will share the spin attack. The middle-order continues to wear the settled look as Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav find a spot.
Hardik Pandya continues to hold the all-rounder spot. Pant and Shikhar Dhawan are expected to be the two openers for the tour. If not Pant, India also have an option in Ajinkya Rahane to open the innings.
It was expected that the senior players could give the series a miss after the hectic home season but it hasn’t been the case as India have picked a full-strength side for the short tour.
Meanwhile, the administrative staff of the Indian cricket team will continue for the West Indies tour, a BCCI release stated on Thursday. There is, however, no clarity who the coach would be. CoA chief Vinod Rai said this week that Kumble will continue for the Windies tour, subject to his acceptance. There has been no word yet from the former Indian skipper.
India squad: Virat Kohli (Capt.), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and Dinesh Karthik (wk)