WI vs IND: India’s Squad for West Indies T20I: Following the completion of the impending ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 Final between India and Australia, the Men in Blue will head to West Indies for an all-format tour in July-August. The tour will comprise T20I and ODI fixtures along with a couple of red-ball matches.
Team India last featured in a T20I game back in early February, this year, against New Zealand and it’s been four months since we last saw India’s T20I side in action. The Men in Blue defeated the Kiwis 2-1 in that three-game T20I series.
IND vs WI five-match T20I series will begin in early July and the squad for that is expected to be announced in the next couple of weeks. The Indian T20I squad may see some surprise selections as the All India Senior Selection Committee wants to test as many youngsters as possible ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Earlier it was reported that the BCCI wants to look past the senior pros of the Indian side following the consistent failure of the side in major ICC events. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammad Shami, and Ravichandran Ashwin among others are likely to be rested for the T20I series against West Indies.
Moreover, with the ODI World Cup 2023 approaching, the Indian cricket board wants senior players to focus more on 50-over cricket. The senior players will keep themselves fresh for the ODI assignments in the build-up for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, which will be held in India in October-November.
With no Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, here is predicted India’s squad for West Indies T20Is which will be led by Hardik Pandya.
WI vs IND: India’s Squad for West Indies T20I Prediction
Openers: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal
Shubman Gill will be the first-choice opener for India in T20Is following his stellar 2023 season of the IPL. Gill will be paired alongside wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan. The Indian selectors will be keen to test and try young Yashasvi Jaiswal, who, too, showed his batting skills in the recently concluded IPL 2023.
Middle-Order: Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rinku Singh
The Indian middle-order will have the services of flamboyant Suryakumar Yadav, who brought everyone on their toes with his flashy batting during the IPL 2023. The BCCI could surprise Mumbai Indians’ Tilak Varma by awarding him with a maiden India call-up for the West Indies series. Varma played numerous responsible innings in the middle order for MI during IPL 2023. He scored 343 runs at an average of 42.88.
Meanwhile, young wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma is likely to pip seasoned Sanju Samson from the race. Jitesh, playing for Punjab Kings in IPL 2023, made an immediate impact with his batting prowesses. He scored 309 runs at an impressive strike rate of 156.06 during the recently wrapped IPL season.
Rinku Singh could also earn a call-up for the T20Is following a heroic season of the IPL. The KKR batter showed his finishing skills throughout the tournament and received praise from the experts and fans.
All-Rounders: Hardik Pandya (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur
Hardik Pandya will lead the fairly young Indian lineup against West Indies. Pandya, although, batted in third place for his IPL franchise, he is unlikely to get that spot in the Indian team.
The other three all-rounders in the ranks would be Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel. The BCCI may rest Ravindra Jadeja in order to manage his workload and in such a case, Washington Sundar can be recalled into the side. However, it remains to be seen if Sundar is fit or not. He had suffered a hamstring injury during the IPL 2023.
Bowlers: Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Tushar Deshpande, Deepak Chahar
The bowling lineup will be led by Deepak Chahar, who has recovered from his hamstring niggle. He was seen in action during the last phase of IPL 2023 for CSK. Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande and Umran Malik will be the other pacers in the squad. Meanwhile, for the spin option, Yuzvendra Chahal will get the nod before any other spinner.
WI vs IND: India’s Squad for West Indies T20I: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Rinku Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Tushar Deshpande.
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For more details head to BCCI’s official website.