Mumbai: After much hullabaloo, the selection of the Indian team for the West Indies tour took place on Sunday afternoon here and along with the five-wise men -- led by M.S.K. Prasad -- skipper Virat Kohli was also physically present in the meeting.
Coming to the selection meeting, while Kohli decided to make himself available for the tour, there were still quite a few fresh faces added in the 15-man squad like Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar and Rahul Chahar.
- 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 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 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
Meanwhile, chief selector M.S.K Prasad, while announcing the squad, said, Kedar Jadhav hasnt done anything wrong for his non-inclusion.
While he did say that the selection did show that the selectors were looking forward, the teams seemed to have the same old look with the exception of a proper number four in Shreyas Iyer.
Kohli is set to lead the team across formats and Jasprit Bumrah has been given a rest till the Test series as expected.
Also, 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.
- Starting with the T20I side, the batting at the top wears a similar look with Shikhar Dhawan coming back at the top. But Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey have been brought 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, it has been the biggest surprise as Kedar Jadhav and Kuldeep Yadav have both been given another go. After a poor show in the World Cup, it was expected that the selectors would look at fresh faces, but clearly, the five wise men don't think on the same lines. 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.
- The Test squad also has almost the same look from the last time with most of them picking themselves and Bumrah coming 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.
Interestingly, the West Indies tour will also be a litmus test for coach Ravi Shastri after India's exit in the semi-final stage of the World Cup. While it was a case of a one-off bad day, the fact that the head coach's contract is up for renewal means that the performance of the team in West Indies will play a role in deciding if Shastri is handed an extension.
While the team has done well under Shastri, the credentials of the candidates applying will also be considered by the ad-hoc Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) that is being formed by the Committee of Administrators.
Similarly, it will be a test for Kohli as well after certain sections have spoken about the possibility of handing deputy Rohit Sharma the mantle of captaincy in the shorter formats. While the talks have been refuted by some board officials, there is never smoke without fire.
India will tour West Indies and the USA to play three T20Is and ODIs each followed by two Tests. The series will kickstart with the T20Is from August 3 and will run till the first week of September.
The first two matches of the T20I series will in fact be played at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill in Florida and the third T20I will be hosted at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
The 2 Tests will mark the first chapter of the new World Test Championship.
Here's the full schedule of the series:
- 1st T20I – August 3 at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida
- 2nd T20I – August 4 at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida
- 3rd T20I – August 6 at Providence Stadium, Guyana
- 1st ODI – August 8 at Providence Stadium, Guyana
- 2nd ODI – August 11 at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
- 3rd ODI – August 14 at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
- 1st Test – August 22-August 26 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
- 2nd Test – August 30 - September 3 at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
