T20I series vs West Indies: Rohit Sharma to lead, no Virat Kohli in squad

Kolkata: Rohit Sharma will be back as captain for the five-match T20 series against the West Indies in July-August as the selection committee named the Indian squad on Thursday. Virat Kohli, who had opted for rest in the three-match ODI series which precedes the T20s along with Rohit, is not a part of the T20 squad.

Incidentally, senior Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan will be leading the Men in Blue in the three-match ODI series in Rohit’s absence.

The 18-member squad sees KL Rahul and Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav back in the squad but ‘‘subject to fitness.’’

No official reason has been given in the BCCI announcement about former Indian captain Kohli, who had reportedly picked up a groin strain and missed the first ODI in the ongoing series against England. Jasprit Bumrah, the team's attacking lynchpin, and Mohammed Shami has also been rested for the tour to be played across the West Indies and the USA.

Squad for 5 T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul*, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav*, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.

T20 Itinerary

Friday July 29: 1st T20I Trinidad

Monday August 1: 2nd T20I St Kitts

Tuesday August 2: 3rd T20I St Kitts

Saturday August 6: 4th T20I Lauderhill, Florida

Sunday August 7: 5th T20I Lauderhill, Florida