Changes galore as India announce squads for West Indies tour

The Indian selectors have announced the squads for the T20I, ODI and Test series’ for the tour of West Indies. Virat Kohli will lead the side in all the three formats of the game. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the ODI and T20I legs of the tour, while Hardik Pandya has been rested for the full series. Former captain MS Dhoni is also not a part of the limited-overs leg of the tour, to serve in his army regiment. Shikhar Dhawan also makes a comeback in the ODI and T20I sides after missing a large part of the World Cup with a thumb injury.

The selectors have opted to give the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Rahul Chahar and Deepak Chahar a shot in the shortest format of the game. Pandey, Iyer and Saini also find themselves in the ODI squad, with the selectors eyeing a gradual overhaul of an ageing team. Rishabh Pant is the only specialist wicketkeeper-batsman in both the ODI and T20I squads and the tour will provide him with a big opportunity to cement his place in the Indian side.

The Test squad will see many of the senior players back in the setup, with the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane making an expected return. Prithvi Shaw has still not fully recovered from his injury, which means KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will be the designated openers. Wriddhiman Saha has also made a long-awaited return to the squad and will compete with Pant for the wicketkeeper-batsman’s spot. Umesh Yadav also finds himself in the team and will back up the pace trident of Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

The tour will begin with the commencement of the T20I series on August 3 and conclude with the final Test in Jamaica on September 3.

T20I squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini

ODI Squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini

Test Squad: Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, C Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (WK) Wriddhiman Saha (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav