Virat Kohli rested for T20s against Bangladesh
Sanju Samson gets call-up
Mumbai: The Indian national selectors named the T20 and Test squad for the series against Bangladesh on Thursday and skipper Virat Kohli has been rested for the T20I series and Rohit Sharma will lead the team in his absence.
While Sanju Samson is the big inclusion in the squad, Rishabh Pant has still been retained as the primary keeper.
The Test team sees no major change as Kuldeep Yadav has retained his place.
Samson’s name has been doing the rounds in recent times and with the World T20 up next year, the team management as well as the selectors are looking to keep options open as Pant is yet to cement his place in the team in the limited-overs format.
The fact that Samson stole the headlines with a brilliant double century against Goa in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy also helped his case.
Shivam Dube has also been given another opportunity even though it is unlikely that he will get a game.
Kohli will be rested for the T20s before returning to lead the Test team.
“He will be skipping the T20 series as he has been playing non-stop and needs a break considering that he has been part of the Australia series, the IPL, the World Cup, the tour of West Indies and now the series against South Africa. Managing the workload of the players, especially those playing all formats, is something that is a priority with this team to ensure that the players are fresh and on the top of their game at all times,” a source said.
In the Test team, Kuldeep after complaining of shoulder pain ahead of the Ranchi Test against South Africa is fit and is back in the squad. Even Wriddhiman Saha is fit and in the team after he injured his ring finger on the third evening of the final Test against the Proteas.
India’s squad
T20 series: 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
Test series: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant