Hardik Pandya will lead a 16-member squad for the T20I format of the New Zealand tour, where Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul among other players in the current T20 World Cup squad has been rested as well. However, Rishabh Pant has been named Pandya’s deputy for the New Zealand T20Is, and will also be the vice-captain of the ODI team for New Zealand which will be led by none other than Shikhar Dhawan.
Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik also missed out on the T20I squad and when asked about it, chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma explained that workload management was the reason for his exclusion from the side. Along with him, Mohammed Shami, R Ashwin and Axar Patel are the other players in the T20 World Cup squad who won’t feature in the squad for the T20Is against New Zealand.
“It is not like that,” said Sharma when asked if India was planning on moving on towards finding other finishers in the T20I setup. “The World Cup is still happening. It is basically on the load management that we are looking at, who to rest and who not to. Dinesh Karthik, the way he came in the side and the way he performed, he’s always available for the selectors.
“It’s just that there are T20I games immediately after the World Cup, the thinking is just to try a different set of players. Otherwise the doors are open for him, he’s a brilliant player, there’s no problem at all,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prithvi Shaw, who has been in good form in the domestic format, is another player who missed out.
Squad for Bangladesh Tests:
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav.
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 31, 2022
When asked about his absence, Sharma said: “We basically are looking at Prithvi, we’re constantly in touch with Prithvi, he has been doing well. There’s nothing wrong with him at all. The thing is – the players who are already playing and those who are performing, they have got their chances. He [Shaw] will definitely get his chance. The selectors are in constant touch with him, talking to him, he is doing well and he will get his chances very soon.”
However, Team India will play three T20Is and three ODIs during their tour of New Zealand. The T20Is will take place on November 18, 20 and 22, with the matches slated in Wellington, Mount Maunganui and Napier respectively as well. The ODIs will be played in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch on November 25, 27 and 30 respectively.
India T20I squad for New Zealand tour: Hardik Pandya (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
India ODI squad for New Zealand tour: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik
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