India included uncapped player Shivam Dube in the T20I team for the upcoming series against Bangladesh. Sanju Samson also earned a recall as the regular captain Virat Kohli was rested for the shorter format.
Squad analysis
Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh at home. Virat Kohli will finally get some rest whereas MS Dhoni continues to be absent from the team. MSK Prasad, the national selector confirmed that now India is moving on from Dhoni.
Prasad explained, “We’re looking at younger options after the World Cup, so you can understand our thought process. We definitely had a chat with Dhoni and he also endorses our view of backing youngsters.” Hardik Pandya, following his operation at the United Kingdom continues to be in the rest. Shivam Dube got his national team call in the T20I format. On the other hand, Sanju Samson’s good showings at Vijay Hazare Trophy helped him get a recall as well. “You can see, earlier we had Hardik Pandya, then we also tried Vijay Shankar. All of us in unison, along with captain Rohit, felt that [given] the role that he has to deliver, Shivam Dube fits in much better.”
Prasad shared his opinion on Samson as well. He said, “[Samson] comes in as a batsman who can keep wicket. Samson was there in the Indian T20 team 4-5 years ago. His problem was inconsistency. In the last one year or so, he has had a fantastic IPL followed by a good domestic and India A series against South Africa. And he had a wonderful Vijay Hazare as well. He is more consistent now and that is the reason we thought of drafting him in the squad.”
The squads
T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur
Test squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk)
