India vs West Indies: Virat Kohli Back As ODI Team Skipper, Rishabh Pant Breaks Into Squad For First Two Games
Virat Kohli is back as the captain of the Indian One-day International team for the first two matches of the series against the Windies. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced the Indian team for the first two ODIs of the five-match series. Virat Kohli is back in command as India’s skipper after taking a break during the recently concluded Asia Cup. The first ODI will be played on October 21 in Guwahati at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, whereas the second game will be hosted by the YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on October 24. Both the ODIs will be day-night fixtures.
One inclusion that grabs eyeballs is that of young wicket-keeper and swashbuckling left-handed batsman Rishabh Pant, who will be seen playing second fiddle to first-choice stumper MS Dhoni.
Other notable inclusion is that of left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed, who performed exceedingly well in the Asia Cup, which India won after beating Bangladesh in the final.
However, Dinesh Karthik has been rested to give Pant a chance. Ravindra Jadeja, who had replaced the injured Hardik Pandya in the Asia Cup, has been given another ODI lifeline by the selectors.
After not finding a place in India’s Test squad against the West Indies, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan return as openers in the Kohli-led squad.
Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya couldn’t return to the squad after getting injured during the Asia Cup in UAE.
Squad (first two ODIs): Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, KL Rahul.
