The Indian selectors on Thursday officially announced the ODI and T20I squads for their upcoming series against the West Indies at home next month.
Shivam Dube’s fine performance in the T20 decider against Bangladesh has earned him a maiden ODI call up, but Sanju Samson has bizarrely been axed despite not featuring in even a single game against the Tigers. Samson and Dube were the only two new call ups to the squad when India squared off against their neighbours last month.
How different are India’s ODI and T20 squads?
Interestingly, India’s ODI and T20 squads for the West Indies series are virtually identical. Fourteen of the fifteen players named feature in both squads- the only difference comes in the form of Kedar Jadhav (ODI’s) and Washington Sundar (T20’s). This is almost a full strength T20 squad for the Men in Blue- perhaps an indication of how highly regarded the Windies are regarded in that format.
After taking a break from the shortest format of the game against Bangladesh, Virat Kohli will again be back at the helm of affairs. Shikhar Dhawan who appeared off colour against the Tigers has been given another opportunity to get himself back in form.
What changes from the Bangladesh series have India made to the T20 squad for the West Indies series?
Out go Khaleel Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar and Sanju Samson, and in come Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and skipper Kohli.
Rahul’s cousin Deepak is the only pacer to keep his spot from the side that played Bangladesh.
Indian fans may also get to see the duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav featuring together after a lengthy absence in both formats. While Chahal had a decent outing in the last T20I series against Bangladesh, left arm spinner Kuldeep has found games hard to come by in the past year or so, and will be keen to make an impression to retain his spot.
The Men in Blue will be playing 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs against the Windies. The T20’s will be played on December 6th, 8th and 11th at Hyderabad, Trivandrum and Mumbai respectively while Chennai, Vizag and Cuttack will be hosting the ODI’s on the 15th, 18th and 22nd respectively.
India T-20 Squad for West Indies home series December 2019
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant (wk), Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami.
India ODI squad vs West Indies December 2019
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur
Edit: On November 27, 2019 Sanju Samson was included for the three-match T20I series against the West Indies as a replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan who suffered a deep cut on his left knee during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Edit: On December 11,2019 Mayank Agarwal has been drafted into the squad in place of the unfit Shikhar Dhawan for the three match ODI series beginning 15 December.
Edit: On December 13, 2019 Shardul Thakur has been included in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar who suffered a groin injury for the three match ODI series.
Edit: On December 19, 2019 Navdeep Saini has been brought into the squad for the third and the final ODI against West Indies in place of Deepak Chahar who suffered a back injury in the second one dayer at Vizag on Wednesday.