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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced an 18-member squad for the five T20Is against West Indies scheduled to be played in July-August this year. And as reported earlier, India’s batting stalwart Virat Kohli has been ‘rested’ from all five games. Other prominent names that will be missing out on the tour include bowling maestro Jasprit Bumrah.
While Shikhar Dhawan was named the captain of the ODIs in Rohit Sharma’s absence, The current Indian skipper will lead India in the shortest format against West Indies. Deepak Hooda, who has been in phenomenal form in T20Is has found a place in the squad. Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Hardik Pandya will also be featuring in the T20Is.
The 5-match T20I series against the West Indies will start from July 29 and will go on till August 7. The first match will be played in Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad, followed by the 2nd and 3rd matches both of which will take place in Warner Park in St Kitts. The series will be concluded in Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Florida where the last two matches will take place.
The decision to rest Kohli and Bumrah comes as BCCI's plan to manage the workload of all-format players. It should be noted that since captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid took charge after the 2021 T20 World Cup last November, Indian players have been playing non-stop cricket, be it the IPL or international series which have also resulted in many injuries.
India’s squad for 5 T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
*The inclusion of KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav is subject to fitness.
India’s Schedule for T20Is against West Indies
29 July: 1st T20I, Brain Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad
01 August: 2nd T20I, Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts
02 August: 3rd T20I, Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts
06 August: 4th T20I, Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida
07 August: 5th T20I, Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida