Rohit Sharma was rested for the T20 series against Sri Lanka (Photo Credit: PTI File)
New Delhi:
Virat Kohli will lead the India's 16-member T20 International squad for the tour of New Zealand. Vice-captain Rohit Sharma made a return after being given rest during the Sri Lanka series, while selectors dropped Kerala wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson. The five-man selection panel also brought back pacer Mohammed Shami who was also rested for the T20 series against Sri Lanka.
The selection committee under outgoing chairman MSK Prasad kept the ODI and Test squads on hold for the time being. The five-match T20 series against New Zealand will begin on January 24 in Auckland. Samson had played the third T20 against Sri Lanka in Pune, scoring six runs. There were no major surprises with most of the players picking themselves.
Interestingly, the Test and the ODI squads were not announced and it is believed that Hardik Pandya's latest fitness drama could be the reason. A BCCI release mentioned that Hardik Pandya's rehabilitation process is taking "longer than expected". Vijay Shankar had replaced Pandya in the India A squad for New Zealand shadow tour.
"Hardik Pandya was boarding the flight to New Zealand for A team without playing a Ranji match. If we go by media reports, his trainer has said that there are workload issues with regards to his bowling. That itself implies that he is not fit. I think the BCCI will instruct Hardik to first play Ranji Trophy for Baroda and prove his fitness," a senior board source told PTI.
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami.
