Shikhar Dhawan will lead India in the three match ODI series against West Indies starting later this month as the BCCI decided to rest some of its top players including captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. The squad also does not feature Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik, and in their absence all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been named vice-captain of the side.
All three ODIs will take place at Port of Spain after which India will play the the Windies in five T20Is, the squad for which is yet to be announced. It is assumed that the big guns might return for the T20Is to play as many shorter-format matches as possible in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in Australia in October. The first ODI starts on July 22, five days after India play the last ODI against England, which is why a younger squad has been selected.
The series will mark Dhawan’s return to the Indian team after the ODI series against South Africa earlier this year. Out of T20I reckoning, Dhawan still holds a formidable position in the ODI set-up and will return for his second India captaincy stint after the Sri Lanka series last year. As for the remaining composition of the squad, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson will be the two wicketkeepers while the fast-bowling unit will wear a relatively younger look with the likes of Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna handling the department in the presence of senior pro Shardul Thakur.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Deepak Hooda are back, and as are Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer in the middle order, while Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel and Jadeja will be the spin options.
India’s ODI squad:Â Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Sing
