No Dhoni for West Indies tour; Saha back in Test squad

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India will be without Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the upcoming full tour (three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests) of the West Indies, starting from August 3. The veteran keeper, according to chief selector MSK Prasad, had conveyed his unavailability to the board.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who had groin injury during the World Cup, has been rested, while Vijay Shankar too is missing from the limited-overs squad as he hasn’t fully recovered from the toe injury sustained during the marquee event.

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ODI SquadVirat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini

T20I Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini

Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (WK) Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav

For the limited-overs leg of the tour, India have gone with a single wicketkeeping option in Rishabh Pant, while in the longer format Wriddihman Saha has been brought back following his full recovery since suffering an injury during the tour of South Africa in 2018.

“We have taken India A performances into consideration. In the longer format, KS Bharat was very, very close to get selected. We have an unwritten norm when a senior cricketer is injured, he should get a comeback opportunity. That’s what we have given to Saha,” MSK Prasad said.

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The BCCI has also decided to rest their premier all-format fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah for the T20Is and the ODIs, before he returns for the Tests, while Test opener Murali Vijay, who had ordinary returns in Australia earlier this year, has been dropped. Also missing from the Test squad is Prithvi Shaw, who hasn’t recovered from the hip injury he suffered last May during the T20 Mumbai League.

Besides the return of Shikhar Dhawan, India’s ODI squad will also have the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey, who previously auditioned for the No. 4 spot. Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed and highly-rated uncapped quick Navdeep Saini have also been picked. Mayank Agarwal, who was roped in as Vijay Shankar’s replacement at the World Cup but didn’t get any game time, has not been picked.

In the T20I squad, there have been more ins and outs from the last time India played in the format. Dinesh Karthik, Siddarth Kaul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav and Bumrah are all missing, with the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuveshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar and Navdeep Saini being included.

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India kick-off their long tour with three-match T20I series, with the first two being played in Florida on August 3 and 4, before shifting base to Guyana for the last game on August 6. The three ODIs will then follow from August 8, before the two-Test series begins from August 22.