Rohit named captain; Gaikwad, Avesh, Harshal make the cut in India's 15-man squad for New Zealand T20Is

The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India on Tuesday (November 09) announced Team India's 15-man squad for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand. The T20I series against Kane Williamson's men will be India's first white-ball assignment post their disappointing exit from the onging T20 World Cup 2021. India failed to make it to the semi-finals in the showpiece event as they bowed out of the T20 World Cup from the group stages after three wins and two losses in five matches.

Virat Kohli, who has stepped down as the captain in T2OIs, has been rested for the New Zealand series at home. Rohit Sharma has been appointed as India's full-time captain after Kohli's exit and will be leading the side against the Kiwis. Senior spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who was snubbed from the T20 World Cup squad has made his comeback while the likes of Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy have been dropped from the team.

Along with Kohli, the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya have also been rested for the New Zealand T20Is. Some of the young guns who performed exceptionally well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 have been rewarded for their performances.

The likes of Hashal Patel and Venkatesh Iyer have earned their maiden national call-ups after a stellar IPL campaign this year. Harshwal was the leading wicket-taker in IPL 2021 with 32 wickets in 15 matches for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Venkatesh took the season by a storm with his impressive all-round performances in his debut season as he scored 370 runs and picked up three wickets in ten matches for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Apart from Harshal and Venkatesh, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Avesh Khan, who had amazing campaigns in IPL 2021 have also been included in the 15-man squad for the New Zealand T20I series at home. Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar, who were in the reserves for the T20 World Cup 2021 have also made their comebacks in the original squad.

Gaikwad is likely to be tested out as an opener while Iyer might take Kohli's no.3 spot in the batting line-up. Axar Patel has been roped in as a like-to-like replacement for Ravindra Jadeja while R Ashwin has retained his place in the team. Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan are the two wicket-keepers in the squad.

Rahul will be acting as Rohit's deputy in his first assignment as India's full-time captain in T20Is. Rohit has a stellar record as a captain in the Indian Premier League, with five titles under his belt at Mumbai Indians and will be looking to help India recover from their disastrous T20 World Cup debacle and fight back with the focus on the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia next year.

India will play three T20Is against New Zealand starting from November 17th. The first T20I will be played in Jaipur, followed by the second one in Ranchi on November 19and the third in Kolkata on November 21.

India’s T20I squad for New Zealand series

Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, MohammedSiraj