BCCI announces T20I squad for West Indies series; Rinku Singh ignored, MI star gets maiden India call-up

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-strong squad for the five-match series against the West Indies. Hardik Pandya will continue to lead the side but the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has pulled off a couple of surprises in its first squad selection. While seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continue to miss T20Is as they haven’t played a single game in the format since the T20 World Cup, Rinku Singh, the best finisher of IPL 2023 was ignored for the five matches.

However, the left-handed duo of Tilak Varma and Yashasvi Jaiswal earned a maiden call-up into the T20 setup. Jaiswal was the 5th highest run-getter in IPL 2023 with 625 runs to his name as he broke the 15-year-old record for most runs by an uncapped batter. Tilak has had two good seasons playing for Mumbai Indians.

Apart from these two, Avesh Khan has returned to the T20I setup after being dropped from the side following poor performances against South Africa and in the Asia Cup last year. Young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi has also been recalled to the side after consistent performances in the IPL in last two seasons. The likes of Mukesh Kumar and Umran Malik have retained their spots from the squad against New Zealand.

Sanju Samson, who had missed the New Zealand T20I series due to knee injury has made a return, which means no place for Jitesh Sharma as Ishan Kishan too has stayed in the side. Ravindra Jadeja too hasn’t made the cut which means Axar Patel has stayed and the duo of Kul-Cha – Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal also keep their places.

The batting trio of Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tripathi and Ruturaj Gaikwad has been left out while Central Zone skipper and Uttar Pradesh pacer Shivam Mavi, who impressed in the T20Is against Sri Lanka and New Zealand too has been excluded from the squad. Deepak Hooda was expected to be dropped after a horror IPL 2023 while off-spinning all-rounder Washington Sundar, who has struggled with injuries has been dropped as well.

India play three T20Is in West Indies followed by the last two games in Florida, United States of America. The five-match series will begin on August 3.

Team India squad for West Indies series: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.

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