After defeating the mighty Australians 4-1 in the ODI series, the men in blue will look to continue their winning streak in the T20 series starting on October 7. The Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) announced a 15-member squad yesterday which saw veteran pacer Ashish Nehra making a comeback to the shortest format of the game.
The stylish left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan also made a comeback to the squad after missing out from the ODI series against the Aussies. He opted out of the fifty-over series to be with his ailing wife. Dhawan who was in a swashbuckling form right from the Champions Trophy in England will look to continue his form against a decent bowling attack.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was also included in the squad replacing young Rishabh Pant after the former led his side India Red to the Duleep Trophy victory. Karthik, who has been in brilliant form last season for his Ranji side Tamil Nadu, will like to make a mark for himself if given a chance with Mahendra Singh Dhoni already in the team.
The 38-year-old fast bowler from Delhi Ashish Nehra who was dropped out from West Indies and Sri Lanka series manages to regain his spot after Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav was rested due to a long season ahead.
The selectors once again showed their confidence on the young spin attack of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel after their brilliant show in the Australia series. The obvious choice for the five-day format of the game, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja was not included in the squad.
Rohit Sharma who was recently announced as the vice-captain for the ODI team will continue to work as Virat Kohli’s deputy. Ajinkya Rahane and pacer Shardul Thakur were left out of the squad.
India will play their first match of the series in Ranchi on October 7. The rest of the matches will be played in Guwahati and Hyderabad on October 10 and 13 respectively.
Squad:Â Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel
