Rohit Sharma has been named captain of India’s 16-man squad for the three-match home T20I series versus New Zealand. The experienced opener will be overseeing India’s first T20I assignment post the end of Virat Kohli’s long tenure as skipper in the shortest format.
It is not made official whether Rohit is now India’s permanent new T20I captain after Kohli’s decision to step down, but the chances of him being made the full-time skipper are quite high. Both Kohli and now-former head coach Ravi Shastri had strongly indicated at Rohit’s long-term appointment to the top job in the format.
Rohit’s opening partner KL Rahul has been named his deputy for the T20Is against the Kiwis. Rahul is in incredible form with the bat and is a sure starter in the side when fit and available. He also boasts of decent leadership experience in the Indian Premier League with Punjab Kings.
Initially, it was felt that the selectors will also rest Rohit and KL for the series and name a completely alternate squad for this series, keeping in mind the workload of the players over the last year and also fatigue borne out of living in bio-bubbles. But in a balanced approach, the selectors have retained some of the big names while also giving youngsters a go.
Apart from Rohit and Rahul, the squad also features wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. The selectors, however, have taken this opportunity to rest Kohli, ace quick Jasprit Bumrah and allrounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Mohammad Shami, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur are absent from the squad. Among these three, only Shami is the one who is more rested than dropped, considering India will be playing five back to back Tests after the T20Is against New Zealand. Shami had a poor T20 World Cup, though, going for 8.84 runs per over in a relatively low-scoring event in the UAE. Thakur played two games but went for 10.66 runs per over.
However, the biggest omission among the three is that of Pandya. Such a pivotal player when doing his power-hitting duties and chipping in with tight overs, Hardik failed to come to the party on both fronts. He performed poorly with the bat in games against Pakistan and New Zealand at the start of the Super 12s stage and bowled only four overs across five games in the tournament.
Hardik’s fitness issues and struggles with the bat have compelled the selectors to warn him to pick up his game and sideline him for the time being. In Hardik’s place, they’ve given the nod to allrounder Venkatesh Iyer, who had a promising IPL 2021 and has followed that up with goods in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20.
Apart from Venkatesh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan have also earned call-ups to the side after a fruitful season of IPL. Gaikwad, among these four, is the only one to have worn the India cap before when he travelled to Sri Lanka in July.
Further the selectors have brought back Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel to the T20I side. All three weren’t part of the T20 World Cup squad for varying reasons. While Iyer had been looked past because of his injury and extended rehab, Chahal had been dropped because of a dip in his returns since the start of 2019.
Axar was the unfortunate one to miss out on the final squad in UAE. He was initially part of the contingent but was then demoted to the standbys as Thakur walked into the squad because of concerns around Hardik.
The T20I series against New Zealand will be held in Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata on November 17, 19 and 21, respectively.
