BCCI names Hardik Pandya as India captain for NZ T20Is, Rohit, Kohli rested; duo to return for BAN trip

Team India conceded their first game in the Men's T20 World Cup 2022 edition on Sunday (October 30), losing to South Africa by five wickets in a low-scoring thriller at the Perth Stadium, Perth. Despite the defeat, Rohit Sharma & Co. remain alive in the race for the semi-finals. While India's focus remains on the marquee event in Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have an eye on the future and named Men in Blue's white-ball squads for the New Zealand tour. In addition, the board announced the ODI and Test squad for the Bangladesh tour, to be held in December.

After the T20 WC, Down Under, the Indian team will travel to New Zealand for a white-ball series. Hence, Hardik Pandya has been named as the captain for the T20Is with Rishabh Pant as his deputy. For the ODIs, Shikhar Dhawan will continue to lead India in the shorter format -- after the SA series at home in early October -- with Pant retaining the vice-captain's position. The big star cricketers such as regular captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli won't feature in the NZ series but will return for the tour of Bangladesh.

For the NZ T20Is, the likes of Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, and Sanju Samson will spearhead India's batting department whereas Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal will be the only experienced campaigners in the bowling unit. The T20Is will be followed by the ODI series with Dhawan taking charge. Hardik won't be part of the series whereas the majority of the players who featured in the SA ODIs have retained their spots (such as Gill, Iyer, Samson, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav). It will also see the return of Deepak Chahar, who was ruled out of the T20 WC due to back issues.

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Talking of India's two Tests and three ODIs versus hosts Bangladesh, it will see the return of regulars such as Rohit, Kohli, KL, etc. There are some notable additions in the ODI line-up, with the inclusion of Rajat Patidar, Rahul Tripathi, and Yash Dayal whereas Ravindra Jadeja will also mark his return. In the Test line-up, KS Bharat will be the second keeper, with Pant now being the preferred choice for quite some time, whereas Shardul has also been drafted to the squad.

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Squad for NZ T20Is: Hardik Pandya (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.

Squad for NZ ODIs: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik.

Squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, W Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Yash Dayal

Squad for Bangladesh Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav.