The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the 16-man squad for India’s upcoming T20I series against New Zealand. As expected, senior batter Rohit Sharma will captain the side while his opening partner KL Rahul will be his deputy.
After India’s win over Namibia in their last game at the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli had hinted that Rohit would succeed him as India’s T20I captain.
“That’s never going to change. If I can’t do that I will not play anymore. Even when I wasn’t captain before I was always keen to see where the game is going. I’m not going to stand around and do nothing,” Kohli said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested for the New Zealand T20Is. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya has been dropped from the squad after a lacklustre performance during the T20 World Cup.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal makes his place back in the team while Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar, who were in the T20 World Cup reserves, are now in the main squad.
Uncapped players Venkatesh Iyer and Harshal Patel have also been included in the 16-member squad.
India and New Zealand will play three T20Is on November 17, 19 and 21, respectively.
India squad for New Zealand T20Is:
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj.
