India Squad For West Indies T20Is: No Place for Rinku Singh; Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal Get Maiden Call-ups

The All India Selection Committee on Wednesday announced the squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against West Indies. A day after being appointed the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar headed the committee and picked an exciting squad for the series. Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian team as senior stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli once again get rested from the T20I squad.

After their impressive performances in Indian Premier League 2023, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma got their maiden T20I call-ups for India. The duo were phenomenal for their respective teams in the cash-rich league and the BCCI decided to give them chances as they have entered the transitional phase in the shortest format. After the 2022 T20 World Cup, India have decided to try out the young players in the T20I set-up as they continued to back Mukesh Kumar and Umran Malik in the bowling attack.

Yashasvi already got picked in the Test squad for West Indies, while it’s the maiden India call-up for Tilak Varma.

In the batting department, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan will join the T20I squad after the three-match series. While ICC number 1 ranked batter Suryakumar Yadav has been named Hardik’s deputy for the series.

In the spin department, Yuzendra Chahal Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi were picked as the wrist spinners. While Axar Patel is the only finger spinner as Ravindra Jadeja has been rested.

Avesh Khan returned to the T20I squad after a long time, while young Arshdeep Singh is expected to lead the pace attack.

Meanwhile, the five match-series will commence from August 3 at Brian Lara Cricket Stadium, Trinidad, followed by next two matches at Providence Stadium, Guyana. The final two matches will be played in Flo Rida.

India’s T20I squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.