In a possible hint towards the future direction India will take in the shortest format, the selectors have left Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli out of the T20I squad for the upcoming home series against New Zealand. KL Rahul is also not in the squad, and while the BCCI put his absence – and that of Axar Patel, from both the ODI and T20I legs of the series – down to family commitments, it gave no indication whether Rohit, India’s regular all-format captain, and Kohli were rested or dropped.
Hardik Pandya, who captained India in the three T20Is against Sri Lanka earlier this month, will continue to lead the side in the T20I series, which will be played in Ranchi, Lucknow and Ahmedabad from January 27 to February 1, with Suryakumar Yadav as his deputy.
Rohit and Kohli are part of the squad for the ODI series that will take place before the T20Is, from January 18 to 24 in Hyderabad, Raipur and Indore.
Prithvi Shaw in, Harshal Patel out
The T20I squad is also notable for the return of opener Prithvi Shaw, who last played for India in July 2021, and whose absence from subsequent squads – particularly in the T20 format – has been a constant source of debate, given his rare ability to provide rapid starts in the powerplay. Shaw forced himself into the reckoning earlier this week by scoring 379 off 383 balls – the second-highest first-class score by an Indian batter – for Mumbai against Assam in the Ranji Trophy.
Sanju Samson, who was ruled out midway through the T20I series against Sri Lanka with a knee injury, remains out of the squad – the BCCI release did not provide an update on his fitness. Jitesh Sharma, who replaced him, remains in the squad as one of two wicketkeeping options alongside Ishan Kishan.
Fast bowler Harshal Patel, who played only the first T20I against Sri Lanka, has been left out of the squad.
India ODI squad for New Zealand series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik.
India T20I squad: Hardik Pandya (capt), Suryakumar Yadav (vice-capt), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Prithvi Shaw, Mukesh Kumar.