MUMBAI, India, CMC – Former skipper MS Dhoni will miss India’s tour of the Caribbean next month while strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the white ball phase, after selectors announced squads for the upcoming full series yesterday.
The 38-year-old Dhoni’s omission was not altogether surprising after it emerged over the weekend that he had opted for a training stint with the country’s reserve force parachute regiment where he is an honorary lieutenant colonel.
His heir apparent Rishabh Pant has been included in the squad for all three formats, further increasing speculation Dhoni’s career could be at an end.
Chief selector MKS Prasad said, however, that any decision on retirement would be made by the player.
“Retirement is purely individual. A legendary cricketer like Dhoni, he knows when to retire,” Prasad pointed out.
“What is the future course of action, that is in the hands of the selection committee. I don’t think we need to discuss anything more on it. First of all he is not available. Second, we have already started grooming youngsters
“We had a certain roadmap and plans till the World Cup. Post the World Cup, we have laid down a few more plans and we thought of giving opportunities to Rishabh Pant to see him [being] groomed. We did discuss things with him (Dhoni).”
Meanwhile, Bumrah who has emerged as India’s leading seamer will only be available for the Test phase at the back end of the tour while all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been rested for the entire tour.
Dashing opener Shikhar Dhawan, who was forced out the World Cup with injury, has been recalled for the white ball part of the tour and has been joined by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and off-spinner Ravi Ashwin have made a return also following injury.
Uncapped fast bowler Navdeep Saini, currently on tour of the Caribbean with India A, has been called up along with teammates Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey, and off-spinner Washington Sundar.
“We have taken India ‘A’ performances into consideration,” Prasad explained.
Predictably, Virat Kohli will lead India in all formats with Rohit Sharma as his deputy in the white ball formats and Ajinkya Rahane his understudy in the Test format.
India are set to play two Tests, three One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals against West Indies from August 3 to September 3.
SQUADS:
T20I SQUAD – Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.
ODI SQUAD – for three ODIs: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini.
TEST SQUAD – Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper) Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.
