IND vs WI: Rishabh Pant roped in for first two ODIs, Shami returns

Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah rested; Mohammed Shami comes back after a year

The BCCI on Thursday announced a 14-member squad for the first two games of the upcoming ODI series against West Indies, beginning from October 21. After skipping the Asia Cup tournament, skipper Virat Kohli is back in the squad while Rohit Sharma has been named as his deputy.

Young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been picked-up for the ODIs for the second time following his good streak with the bat in the Tests against England and West Indies. He has replaced Dinesh Karthik in the side. All-rounder Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya have not been included as they are yet to recover from injuries sustained during the Asia Cup held in the UAE.

In the bowling department, Khaleel Ahmed has yet again found a place in the team and Mohammad Shami has returned after a long gap of one year. They will replace regular bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in the squad.

Ravindra Jadeja, who made a dynamic comeback in the Asia Cup, has successfully maintained his place in the squad and will accompany Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the spin department.

Here’s the squad:

Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Rishabh Pant, R Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, KL Rahul

The 5-match ODI series is beginning from October 21 in Guwahati while the second game, which was earlier scheduled in Indore, will be played in Vishakhapatnam.

Here’s the full schedule:

1st ODI: 21st October in Guwahati

2nd ODI: 24th October in Visakhapatnam

3rd ODI: 27th October in Pune

4th ODI: 29th October in Mumbai

5th ODI: 1st November in Thiruvananthapuram