Mumbai: Captain Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have been rested as India on Sunday named their squad for the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 cricket tri-series slated to take place in Colombo from March 6.
While opening batsmen Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will assume roles of captain and vice-captain respectively, Tamil Nadu’s Dinesh Karthik and Delhi’s Rishabh Pant are the two candidates to take up wicket-keeping duties.
The T20I tournament also features Bangladesh as the third team. All matches will be held at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
“We’ve kept in mind the workload and upcoming schedule while finalising the team for Nidahas Trophy,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s All-India senior selection committee chairman M.S.K. Prasad said in a statement.
“The high-performance team has suggested that adequate rest should be given to our fast bowlers to help improve athletic performance, maximise rest and prevent injury.”
Prasad said that Dhoni “was not available for selection as he had requested for rest”.
Karnataka top-order batsman Lokesh Rahul has returned to the squad, as have Pant, Deepak Hooda and allrounder Vijay Shankar.
In the absence of Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah, the responsibility to lead the pace attack will fall on Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur, both of whom were part of the victorious team in South Africa.
Mohammad Siraj and all-rounder Shankar are the other medium-pace bowling options in the squad.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav too has not been picked. His place has been taken by teenager Washington Sundar.
