India captain Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni have been rested for India’s T20 tri-series against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, announced the All-India Senior Selection Committee on Sunday, 25 February. Opener Rohit Sharma will be leading the squad in the Nidahas Trophy, scheduled to start in Sri Lanka on 6 March. Shikhar Dhawan will be his deputy in a side that has as many as six changes.
"MS Dhoni was not available for selection as he had requested for rest," national selector MSK Prasad was quoted as saying in a press release.
On predicted lines, top fast bowling duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya after they shared enormous workload on the South Africa tour.
We’ve kept in mind the workload and upcoming schedule while finalising the team for Nidahas Trophy. 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.MSK Prasad, Chairman of Selectors
Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav is also not in the Sri Lanka-bound team.
A close look will indicate that selectors maintained consistency by selecting all those players who were part of the home T20s against Sri Lanka in December.
Coming back into the team is wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, after a solid season in white-ball cricket including centuries in both national T20s and One-Dayers.
Off spinner Washington Sundar, pacer Mohammed Siraj and all rounder Deepak Hooda are back in the side after the home series against Sri Lanka.
All-rounder Vijay Shankar is the like-for-like replacement for Pandya.
Dinesh Karthik is the first keeper while Pant may play as pure batsman.
The prominent performer to miss out was Mayank Agarwal who scored 2,000 plus runs in the season.
Here’s the full squad for Nidahas Trophy 2018:
1 Rohit Sharma (Captain)
2. Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain)
3. KL Rahul
4. Suresh Raina
5. Manish Pandey
6. Dinesh Karthik (wk)
7. Deepak Hooda
8. Washington Sundar
9. Yuzvendra Chahal
10. Axar Patel
11. Vijay Shankar
12. Shardul Thakur
13. Jaydev Unadkat
14. Mohammad Siraj
15. Rishabh Pant (wk)
(With inputs from PTI.)
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