India have announced the squads for their ODI series against Australia and New Zealand and for the T20I series against New Zealand.
Former India captain MS Dhoni has been included in both squads. He has not played a T20I since June, and has been criticised for scoring too slowly in both T20Is and ODIs. Dhoni was not picked for India’s T20I series against West Indies or Australia. His recall puts to bed suggestions that his T20I career may be over.
His potential successor, Rishabh Pant, who kept wicket for India in T20Is in Dhoni’s absence, also appears in the T20I squad, but with only Dhoni listed as wicketkeeper, it appears he is the selectors’ favourite to take the gloves. Dinesh Karthik is another option to take the gloves.
Pant has not been included in India’s ODI squad. Instead, after the ongoing Test series against Australia in which he is keeping wicket, he will return home to play for India A against England Lions in a five-match one-day series.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya has also returned to the squads after suffering a back injury during India’s second game of the Asia Cup in September. He proved his fitness in a recent Ranji Trophy game, taking seven wickets in the game, including a five-wicket haul, and scoring 73 in the first innings.
Another all-rounder, Kedar Jadhav, has also been recalled to the T20I squad, having returned to India’s ODI side in the last two matches of their series against Windies after recovering from a hamstring injury. It is over a year since he played his last T20I, against Australia in October 2017.
In the pace department, Umesh Yadav, who struggled in the first two ODIs against Windies, taking 1/142 across both games, and also in the Perth Test, conceding 3.76 runs per over across both innings, has been left out. Mohammed Shami has been recalled to the ODI squad.
Batsman Manish Pandey, who managed just 23 runs in the T20I series against West Indies, and struggled during the Asia Cup, has been left out of both squads. The other squad change is that off-spinner Washington Sundar has been left out of India’s T20I squad.
India take on Australia in three ODIs between 12-18 January 2019, beforte heading to New Zealand to play five ODIs and three T20Is between 23 January and 10 February 2019.
ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami
T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed
