New Delhi: On Tuesday Rohit Sharma was selected as the new captain of the Indian T20 team for the three-match series against New Zealand, replacing Virat Kohli. Apart from Kohli, who has stepped down as the captain of the Indian T20 team, senior players like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been rested for the series starting November 17 in Jaipur.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, the highest run-scorer in the Indian Premier League 2021, and Harshal Patel, the highest wicket-taker, have also been included in India’s 16-man squad. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, seen as a possible replacement for injury-prone Hardik Pandya, has also found a place in the squad.
Hardik has been dropped from the team after failing to make an impact in the T20 World Cup. Ruturaj made his debut for India during the Sri Lanka series. Senior leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and fast bowler Mohammad Siraj have returned to the team. Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, and Deepak Chahar, who were included in the reserve players of the T20 World Cup, have also been included in the team.
Rohit’s appointment was a mere formality while Lokesh Rahul will be the vice-captain in the shortest format of the game. A senior BCCI official clarified, “I don’t know who is spreading this misinformation but when Rohit Sharma is available, there is no other option at this time to captain the white ball. Yes, Lokesh Rahul is there but for the time being his name will be considered as the vice-captain.
“Of course when Rohit takes a break, he will take the lead,” he added. The BCCI did not say anything about the captain of the one-day international team but it is understood that the board wants only one captain of the limited-overs team before the 50-over World Cup in 2023 and when the right time comes, three matches against South Africa. A decision will be taken regarding the ODI series of matches.
“I am not sure that the board will not continue with Virat as the captain of the one-day international. It has been discussed that this is very unlikely. He will definitely continue to be the Test captain.”
Apart from Kohli, Bumrah, Shami, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have also been rested from this series. Hardik, who did not give honest information about his fitness status, has been dropped from the team. The selection committee is understood to have been extremely disappointed with his fitness and he is the only player in the team to have actually been dropped and not rested like the rest.
“Hardik Pandya is yet to recover from his back injury. However, if the former T20 captain (Kohli in this case) insists on keeping him as a specialist batsman at No. 6, Chetan (chief national selector Chetan Sharma) and his team will have to bow down.
“The same thing happened when he asked for five spinners and later realized that one spinner has become too much,” he said. Ruturaj (635 runs), Harshal (32 wickets), Avesh (24 wickets), and Venkatesh (370 runs and 3 wickets) were unanimously selected after their stellar performances in the IPL. Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has probably got his last chance to prove himself. He is nowhere close to his best but has been retained due to his lack of experience in the fast bowling attack.
India’s T20 International team is as follows
Rohit Sharma (captain), Lokesh Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel and Mohammad Siraj.
