MS Dhoni dropped from Windies and Australia T20 series; Virat Kohli rested for Windies
After a run of disastrous form in limited-overs cricket, MS Dhoni has been dropped from the Indian team for the T20I series against the Windies and Australia. The selectors have, however, decided to call up Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, and Shahbaz Nadeem for the Windies T20I squad.
MS Dhoni has been going through a terrible run of form and it was only a matter of time before the national selectors would take the drastic step of dropping him from the T20I setup. Given his body of work doesn't guarantee him a place in the World T20 in 2020, it was the best time to nurture Rishabh Pant and selectors finally took the brave call. While that was the biggest news to have come out from the annoucement, Virat Kohli has also been rested for the Windies T20I series with Rohit Sharma being appointed as the skipper.
While Krunal Pandya and Manish Pandey have been able to get another look in, Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar have got a call up to the squad. Sundar was mighty effective in the powerplay overs for the national team in the Nidahas Trophy last March, but failed to make any sort of impact in the forthcoming Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Shahbaz Nadeem's impressive domestic performances for Jharkhand has also been awarded a national call-up after the left-arm spinner lit up the Indian domestic circuit with power-packed performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
India squad for West Indies T20I series : Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar, KL Rahul, DK, Manish, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem
India squad for Australia T20I series : Virat Kohli (C), Rohit (vc), Shikhar, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish, DK, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel