Rishabh Pant has been included in the India One-Day International squad against the West Indies. Pant is in the 14-member squad for the first two ODIs as a batsman as MS Dhoni will be the wicket-keeper. Regular skipper Virat Kohli will lead the side after being rested for the Asia Cup 2018.

Rishabh Pant

New Delhi:

Pant comes in place of Dinesh Karthik. The Tamil Nadu ‘keeper has been in and out of the team but he had done reasonably well in the limited opportunities he got. In the Asia Cup,  However, for Pant, the attacking 92 against Windies in the Rajkot Test, would have helped in getting the nod..

Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya, who suffered injuries during the recently-concluded Asia Cup, have been left out. The pace attack looks thin with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah missing out. Mohammed Shami is back in the side and will lead the attack that also comprises Shardul Thakur and Khaleel Ahmed.

Manish Pandey, who played only one game in the Asia Cup, has managed to retain his place in the squad and will be battling it out with Ambati Rayudu and Pant for two places in the middle order.

KL Rahul has also been retained. The opener had stroked a 60 but with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan sealing the opening slot, it remains to be seen if the team management continue to persist with him in the role of a reserve opener or will they experiment with him at No. 4 - a position that still awaits to be sealed.

Squad for first-two ODIs: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, A Rayudu, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (Wk), Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, KL Rahul.