Virat Kohli and Co en route to UK
The Indian men's cricket team left for the upcoming two-month long tour, featuring series against Ireland and England, from the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday. India are heading into the clash on the back of their crushing win by an innings and 262 runs in the historic one-off Test match against minnows Afghanistan inside two days. With a long campaign ahead, Team India plan to start matters on the correct note. Take a look.
MS Dhoni and his daughter Ziva
Team India head coach Ravi Shastri
Dinesh Karthik and the Indian team staff
England, on the other hand, are fresh from their five-match ODI series win over Australia. They have already clinched the series by winning the first three games and lead 4-0 at the moment with a game yet to be played.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who was ruled out of his maiden English county stint due to a neck injury, had confirmed that he was absolutely fit for the upcoming series against England.
Earlier, the 29-year-old sustained the injury during his campaign with the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and was subsequently forced to miss his much-debated maiden English county stint with Surrey.
Reflecting on the same, Kohli had said he successfully underwent the fitness test and that he was "completely ready to go" for the upcoming series.
"I am 100 per cent ready to go. The neck is fine now. I've had six to seven sessions in Mumbai. I've had a good practice and I am absolutely ready to go. I went through the fitness test as well so the body is feeling fine. I am actually very excited to get back on the field," he had said.
India are slated to play two T20I against Ireland, starting June 27 before the Kohli-led side will head to England for three-match T20I series, three-match ODI series and five Tests.
The squads are as follows:
India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.
India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Siddarth Kaul and Umesh Yadav.
