The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named a 15-member squad for the five-match T20I series against the West Indies. While the leadership remained more or less similar with Hardik Pandya being the captain and Suryakumar Yadav his deputy, there was a major shake-up in the rest of the squad. Some of the changes were based on IPL 2023 and a couple of them indicated the start of the transition as far as the Indian T20 team is concerned.
India and West Indies are set to play five T20Is, starting August 3. The first three matches will be played in the Caribbean, with the series opener scheduled to be held in Trinidad and the remaining two in Guyana while the final two will take place in Lauderhill, Florida in the USA.
As the BCCI picked a new T20I squad, here's a look at a full list of changes - who's in and who's out from the last time they played a T20I series, back in January:
IN:
The left-handed duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma earned their maiden call-ups in the Indian T20 setup with Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan getting recalled. Bishnoi has been sensational in the last couple of seasons in the IPL and Avesh, on the other hand, will be playing for India for the first time since the Asia Cup last year. Among the inclusions, Sanju Samson, who didn't play the New Zealand series as he was recovering from his knee injury has come back into the fold and will be looking to seal his spot once and for all. Axar Patel, who missed the New Zealand series owing to his marriage, has also returned to the T20 outfit as Ravindra Jadeja stays clear of T20Is.
OUT:
The players left out are more and the list begins from the top. The opening duo of Prithvi Shaw and Ruturaj Gaikwad both have been left out. While Shaw had a disappointing IPL season, Gaikwad's exclusion was a little puzzling. Rahul Tripathi, who impressed with his intent and a couple of quick knocks in five matches earlier in the year, has also been dropped. Deepak Hooda was next in the line to be left out, after a horror IPL 2023. Jitesh Sharma, who was one of the best finishers in IPL 2023, along with Rinku Singh playing for Punjab Kings, was part of the Indian squad that played against New Zealand. However, with both Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson making the cut it was difficult for Jitesh to retain his spot.
Rinku was the biggest omission from the squad despite some wonderful numbers as he is yet to get an India call-up. Among the bowlers, Washington Sundar, whose injury woes continued in the IPL, was ignored as well while Shivam Mavi, the captain of Central Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy semi-finals, was also dropped from the team.
The rest of the team picks itself as the young Indian team begins to prepare for the T20 World Cup in June next year.
