The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the three-match T20I series against Ireland on Monday, July 31 with a few changes from the side that will play five T20Is against the West Indies. The biggest change was the return of India's strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who was sidelined with a recurring back injury, followed by an operation. Bumrah last played competitive cricket in September last year and will make a comeback through the T20 matches as the team management builds up his workload slowly towards the World Cup.
However, the biggest surprise was him being named as the captain for the series. Since the likes of Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav have been rested ahead of the Asia Cup, Bumrah, who might be the only exception to feature in both the assignments, will have the pressure of leadership on comeback after 11 months. Opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, who will lead the second-string Indian team in the Asian Games, has been named Bumrah's deputy for the series.
A report has now emerged that Bumrah himself was keen on leading the side. According to ESPNcricinfo, Bumrah wanted to captain the side even though the selection panel and other members of the team management considered giving Gaikwad a trial run before the Asian Games.
Bumrah, who has been seen as part of the leadership group for the last couple of years and possibly a future leader in one of the formats, made his captaincy debut for India in the rescheduled Test match against England at Edgbaston last year. India may have lost the game but Bumrah's captaincy faced the least flak among other things.
As far as the Indian squad for the Ireland series, apart from Bumrah, it also marks the return of Prasidh Krishna who is also making a comeback after a long injury layoff. The likes of Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma will hopefully get the first opportunity to showcase their skill at this level. The three-match series begins on August 18, with the remaining two games to be played on August 20 and 23.
India's squad for Ireland series: Jasprit Bumrah (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan
