New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squad for the upcoming Zimbabwe series and the West Indies tour.
Team India is set to play three ODIs and three T20Is against Zimbabwe from June 11-22 followed by a four-match Test series against West Indies in July, the schedule of which is yet to be announced.
For the Zimbabwe tour, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Indian side which will come with a couple of surprises and debuts.
After showcasing excellent performance in the ongoing Indian Premier League, Manish Pandey and Karun Nayar got selected for the limited-over series against Zimbabwe that includes three ODIs and three T20Is.
Manish Pandey turned out to be a useful middle-order batsman for Kolkata Knight Riders as he scored 212 runs in 11 matches that included two half-centuries. On the other hand, Karur Nair scored 357 runs in 14 matches for Delhi Daredevils, who unfortunately failed to qualify for the IPL play-offs.
Seeing the hectic schedule of the Indian cricket team this year, the selectors decided to give a break to lead players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Hardik Pandya and Ajinkya Rahane for the Zimbabwe tour.
A few uncapped players have managed to get selected in the international team. These include Haryana leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, all-rounder Jayant Yadav, Vidarbha batsman Faiz Fazal and Punjab’s top batsman Mandeep Singh.
Squad (Zimbabwe tour): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), K L Rahul, Faiz Fazal, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Ambati Rayudu, Rishi Dhawan, Axar Patel, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaspreet Bumrah, Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mandeep Singh, Jayant Yadav, Barinder Sran, Jaydev Unadkat
Squad (West Indies tour): Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, K L Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Stuart Binny
