Hardik Pandya to lead India for T20I series against West Indies as Rohit, Virat rested; Surya named deputy

An official statement by the BCCI, announcing the squad, read, “The Senior Men’s Selection Committee on Wednesday picked India’s squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against West Indies to be played in the Caribbean Islands and in Florida, USA.”

Hardik Pandya will take the mantle of captaincy in the absence of Rohit Sharma, while Suryakumar Yadav will be his deputy.

Virat Kohli is another notable absentee from the T20I squad, with Sanju Samson likely to come in at Number 3 in the batting line-up.

Left-arm paceman Arshdeep Singh also found his way back into the Indian team after not finding a place in the Test and ODI squads.

Both teams will lock horns for a five-match T20I series, the first of which will be played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad, on August 3.The second T20I will be played at the Guyana National Stadium, Guyana on August 6 while the third will be hosted at the same venue on August 8.The fourth and the fifth T20I fixtures will be played at the Broward County Stadium, Florida on August 12 and 13.

India’s T20I squad: 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.

India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.

India’s ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.