After a terrible outing in the WTC final 2023 against Australia, the Indian team will now lock horns with West Indies in two Tests, three One-Day-Internationals (ODIs), and a five-match T20 International series, starting from July 12. The BCCI also declared the squad for the Test and One-Day-Internationals.
Talking on the squad finalized by Indian selectors, former spin legend Harbhajan Singh has said a new skipper should have handed over the role of captaincy in the series against West Indies. As per the squad, Rohit Sharma will lead the side in Odis and Tests. Ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been chosen as the vice-captain in the 50-over format.
According to Harbhajan, India should have asked Hardik to lead the side for the series instead.
"The One-Day team should have gone only under Hardik Pandya's leadership with a new squad. The youngsters, who performed well in the IPL, should have got a chance here. This was the best chance to groom them. Maybe, they are playing this team considering the World Cup," Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
Hardik has the experience of leading the side as under his captaincy, Gujarat Titans won the IPL 2022 and also played the final of IPL 2023. Talking About India’s squad for the West Indies series, young guns like Mukesh Kumar, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been included in the side. In the absence of Rishabh Pant who is still recovering from a lethal car crash, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson have been added to the side as wicketkeepers. Senior players like Umesh Yadav and Cheteshwar Pujara have been dropped from the side.
Squads:
India’s ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Shardul Thakur, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.
India's Test Squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.