Rohit returns to lead India, Ravi Bishnoi, Hooda receive maiden call-ups for West Indies series

After missing India’s entire tour of South Africa due to a hamstring injury, the fit-again Rohit Sharma returns to lead the Men in Blue for their upcoming white-ball series against the West Indies in February. India will play three ODI’s and three T20I’s against the West Indies from the sixth of February, and there will also be some fresh faces in the squad, with Ravi Bishnoi and Deepak Hooda both receiving their maiden call-ups to the national team.

The leg-spinner – who was recently signed by the Lucknow Super Giants as one of their three retention picks – has been called up to both limited-over squads following his impressive showings for Punjab in the IPL. Bishnoi has picked up 24 wickets in 23 IPL matches at an economy rate of 6.9, and the 21-year-old has been drafted to the squad in the lead up to the 2022 T20 World Cup, with India looking to solve their wicket-taking issues through the middle overs.

In light of the underperforming bowling attack, India have also recalled Kuldeep Yadav to the ODI setup for the first time in over six months, while Washington Sundar is selected as the sole off-spinner in both squads after recovering from Covid-19, replacing his state teammate Ravichandran Ashwin in the side.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – who failed to pick up a single wicket in the ODI series against South Africa – keeps his place in the T20 squad but has been dropped from the 50-over side. India have also rested their all-format stars Jasprit Bumrah & Mohammad Shami, with Avesh Khan added to both squads as cover after his excellent performances at IPL 2021 for the Delhi Capitals.

Amongst the batters, the headline news is the addition of Deepak Hooda to the ODI squad as an option in the middle-order in place of Venkatesh Iyer, who lost his place in the 50-over side following his poor showing against South Africa. At the top of the order, Rohit Sharma returns to take his place as the permanent captain of the ODI team for the first time, a move which will presumably cause vice-captain KL Rahul to drop down the order to number five.

Other notable absentees in this squad include Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, with both all-rounders still unavailable to play while they continue to recover from their respective injuries.

India will take on the West Indies in three ODI’s in Ahmedabad from February 6-11 before playing the T20I leg in Kolkata on February 16, 18 and 20.

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan

T20I Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel