India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against West Indies was announced on Wednesday with youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma, getting their maiden national call-ups. Interestingly, newly appointed BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar has retained Hardik Pandya as the T20I captain with senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested. Both the players have been missing out on the shortest format of the game since the T20 World Cup 2022 and Hardik has been leading the team in the T20Is.
Former India batter Aakash Chopra feels that Hardik shall continue to lead the Indian team in the T20Is for a long time and even in the T20 World Cup in 2024.
“Hardik Pandya, who had been given the captaincy after the T20 World Cup – it seems like that’s now the final fixture, that Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian T20 team for times to come, which means until the upcoming World Cup,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Regarding Rohit and Virat’s exclusion from the squad, Chopra said, “I feel they had already moved in that direction and it is still the same, nothing has changed. None of the seniors have been picked. KL Rahul is unavailable but now it is extended that you have not played Rohit and Kohli since the World Cup.”
In the absence of any senior player in the team, batter Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as the vice-captain for the five-match T20I contest.
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi also made comeback into India’s T20I team. This is the first squad to be picked under the leadership of new BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar, who was appointed in the top post on Tuesday.
The West Indies tour will begin from July 12 with both the teams playing two Test matches. It will be followed by three ODIs and five T20Is.
India’s T20I squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
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