The mystery over M.S. Dhoni and his future was solved on Saturday morning as the former India skipper informed the board that he is taking a 2-month sabbatical.
All eyes were on the selectors to see if they start the process of preparing for the 2023 World Cup from this tour itself.
There were quite a number of surprises. Virat Kohli has not been given any rest and has been announced the skipper in all the three formats. While few pacers have been given some off time, star opener Shikhar Dhawan is back from injury.
There will still be quite a few fresh faces, especially after a gruelling season that saw the Indian players first play the Indian Premier League and then the World Cup. However, Hardik Pandya and Prithvi Shaw are injured, so not part of the team. Speedster Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the ODI series against Windies. Uncapped seamer Navdeep Saini gets call up in ODIs and T20s.
Starting with the T20I side, Shikhar Dhawan coming back at the top and Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey back in the middle-order. The spin department sees the call-up of Rahul Chahar for what has been a quality show in the Indian Premier League. The pace bowling department also has a fresh look with Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar and Navdeep Saini in the squad giving Bhuvneshwar Kumar company.
In the ODI squad, Kedar Jadhav and Kuldeep Yadav had a poor run in the WC 2019 but the selectors giving them another go came up as one of the biggest surprise. Bhuvneshwar again has Khaleel and Saini for company while Mohammed Shami is back in the ODI squad after the selectors decided to rest him for the T20Is.
In the Test squad, Bumrah came back for the Test Championship. With Rohit doing well in the last series against Australia, he has also retained his place in the middle-order. Umesh Yadav has been backed as the fourth pacer behind Ishant Sharma, Bumrah and Mohammed Shami while Bhuvneshwar has missed out.
The middle-order issue of Team India was expose yet again after their loss against Kiwis in WC 2019 semi-final as a selectors and the team management did a lot of experimentation before the World Cup. Young players Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and Rishabh Pant start the great Indian middle order revolution for next World Cup in 2023.
India’s squad for 3 T20Is: Virat Kohli (Captain), 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
India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Virat Kohli (Captain), 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
India’s squad for 2 Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), 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