India announce T20I team for New Zealand; Samson dropped

 

The Indian cricket team are gearing up for a six week long tour to New Zealand, featuring five T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests. After playing a short three-match ODI series against Australia, the Men in Blue will fly down to New Zealand, with the first T20I starting on 24th January.

The squad for the five-match T20I series was announced by the BCCI selection committee on Sunday. Team India opener Rohit Sharma, who was rested for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka after being on the road constantly returns to the side, with Sanju Samson, who got a game in the third T20I but failed to make an impact, making way. The Kerala wicket-keeper started off proceedings at Pune, the venue of the third game, with a big six, but failed to get going thereafter as he was soon sent back to the pavilion.

The other notable absentee is Hardik Pandya, who was expected to be fit for the series but has missed out after failing a fitness test recently. Shivam Dube, hence, will be the seaming all-rounder in the side. Suryakumar Yadav and Krunal Pandya, players who have left their impact in the T20 games that they have played, miss out as well.

The series will present the Indian side with a great chance to fix their middle-order woes and correct their weakness of batting first.

With just ten months to go for the T20 World Cup that will be held in Australia, the Indians, led by Virat Kohli, will be eager to identify their XI, including picking who the second opener in the side will be.

While Rohit has staked a claim for the opener’s slot, a toss-up between KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan exists, with the former edging ahead due to his aggressive natural game.

T20I squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur