(Source: PTI)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has on Monday, announced the squad for upcoming New Zealand T20 series. The major highlight being the two new faces included in the squad – Shreyas Iyer and Mohammed Siraj. Fast bowler Ashish Nehra has been picked for only the first T20, to be played in Delhi, which will be his last game before retiring. As per a report by The Indian Express, MSK Prasad, India’s chairman of selectors, said, “Iyer has been prolific across formats – in first-class, one-dayers, T20 – he’s been performing consistently. If we pick a player, we will give him a long run. The same applies for Siraj.”
The selectors also retained KL Rahul for the series after being dropped from the ongoing three-match ODI series against New Zealand. Dinesh Karthik, who was named in the T20 squad against Australia, has also been retained. To lead the spin attack, the selectors have shown trust on Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel. However, big names like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have not been picked up. The opening pair has been kept intact with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
MSK Prasad also clarified that whether Nehra will play the first T20 or not is subjected to the decision by the team management. He said, “We can’t say that [if he will surely play in the Delhi T20I], whether he is going to play or not, it is clearly the team management and the selector on call, whoever it is. The think tank involved will be taking a call. There is no assurance from our side that he’s going to play or not. It will be decided on that particular day.”
The T20 series begins on November 1 and will see the two sides play three T20s. Here are the names announced for the upcoming T20 series against New Zealand:
Virat Kohli (caption), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ashish Nehra (only for the first T20I)
