The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced the Indian teams for the three-match T-20I series against West Indies and the three-match T-20I series and the four-match Test series against Australia to be held later this year.
Opener Rohit Sharma, who led India to victory in the Asia Cup 2018, will be the captain for the Men in Blue in the upcoming T-20I series against the Caribbean side. The first T-20I will be played on November 4 in Kolkata. Rohit also gets a call-up for the Tests against Australia.
The most noteworthy exclusion is that of former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been dropped for the T-20I series against both the West Indies and Australia. This is the first instance in his international career that the mercurial wicketkeeper-batsman from Ranchi has been dropped from a series.
The 37-year-old has featured in 93 of the 104 T-20I matches that India has played since his debut in 2006, scoring 1487 runs at a strike rate of 127. Additionally, he has taken 54 catches and executed 33 stumpings.
The other notable absentee from both the lists is all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who is yet to recuperate from the back injury he sustained during the Asia Cup last month.
23-year old Mumbai batsman and Delhi Daredevils (DD) captain Shreyas Iyer, along with DD teammate Shahbaz Nadeem, has been called up to the squad for both the T-20I series as a top order batsman. Nadeem will be part of the home side's wide range of spin options, along with Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead India's seam attack, with an additional option in left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed, in the two limited overs format series.
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Virat Kohli, who was given break after a straining England tour, will return to the field and take over captainship for the two series against Australia.
Murali Vijay, who had a torrid time in the first two Tests during the England tour, gets a chance to redeem his spot at the top order with a call-up to the squad for the Australia Tests. Unlike Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan was dropped for the Tests his indifferent spell in England. K. L. Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been selected as India's other top order options for the four-match series, also known as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Youngsters Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari, with the former scoring a century in his Test debut against West Indies, were picked for the Tests against Australia, with Rishabh Pant and Parthiv Patel being given the nod as the Men in Blue's wicketkeeper-batsmen.
Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav make up India's full-time spin options, while Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar form the pace attack.
The full squads are as below:
For the three-match T20I series against West Indies - Shikhar Dhawan, K. L. Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav and Shahbaz Nadeem.
For the three-match T20I series against Australia - Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, K. L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed.
For the four-Test match series against Australia - Virat Kohli (C), M. Vijay, K. L. Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Parthiv Patel, R. Ashwin, R. Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.