India vs Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma named T20I Captain | Virat rested

Mumbai: Virat Kohli has been rested for the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Bangladesh starting from November 3. Rohit Sharma will lead the 15-member squad. Kohli, however, will be back for the two-match Test series.

Source: BCCI

Wicketkeeper Batsman Sanju Samson has been included in the squad for the T20I series against Bangladesh. Samson had recently notched up a double century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019 against Goa. All-rounder Shivam Dube earned his maiden call-up in the T20I squad for the home series against Bangladesh. Virat Kohli will return to lead the side in the two-Test series.

Wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal made a return to the T20 squad. In another major decision, experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was not picked to make space for Krunal Pandya, who offers a similar set of skills. In the build-up to the 2020 T20 World Cup, India has been looking for depth in their lower-order; hence they have preferred bowlers who can also contribute with the bat, which has seen Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav not being played together.

“With regards to (Chahal), we wanted to try him out and that’s the reason we are giving him so many opportunities. At some point, both of them (Jadeja and Krunal) will play together and we will see how each of them progresses,” said chairman of selectors MSK Prasad.

The chief selector said in Shivam Dubey they have a player who bats aggressively. “Earlier we had Hardik Pandya, then we also tried Vijay Shankar. All of us agreed in unison that the role we have, Shivam Dubey fits in very well,” Prasad said. “He bats aggressively, his performances in the India A Series in West Indies and also against South Africa in the ODI's (for India A) was phenomenal. He has improved by leaps and bounds, a notch higher and we are convinced about him.”

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Delhi Fast bowler Navdeep Saini was not available because of fitness issues. “That’s the reason we picked up Shardul Thakur,” Prasad said. “Coming to Bumrah and Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), I think Bhuvi might come in the next series, he is taking some time. (Jasprit) Bumrah will take a little longer.” Bumrah and Kumar are both out with recurring injuries.

Rishabh Pant is the first-choice keeper-batsman and Sanju Samson has been picked as a top-order batsman who will also be a back-up for Pant.

“Samson was there in the Indian team 4-5 years ago, his problem was inconsistency,” Prasad said. “In the last one year, he has had a fantastic IPL followed by a good India A series against South Africa and then 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 selectors have retained the original Test squad from the South Africa series with one exception Kuldeep Yadav has been preferred over Shahbaaz Nadeem, who made an impressive debut at Ranchi.

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India T20I squad: Rohit Sharma(Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant(wk), Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur.

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Saha (wk), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant.

Bangladesh tour of India: Three T20Is - New Delhi (November 3), Rajkot (November 7), and  Nagpur (November 10) and two Test matches - Indore (November 14-18) and Kolkata (November 22-26).