India ODI squad against West Indies announced

India ODI squad against West Indies: India have announced a 14-member squad for the first two ODIs against West Indies.

The selection committee has announced India’s 14-member squad for the upcoming ODI series against West Indies. The biggest of all the changes is the unexpected inclusion of regular captain Virat Kohli, who was rested for the Asia Cup.

Citing his heavy workload in mind, there were reports of Kohli being rested for the limited-overs leg of the series.

Rishabh Pant, a name which has been doing the rounds for an inclusion in the ODI team, has finally been named in the side. Several voices have been raised in the last week or so regarding giving him a go in limited-overs for his game is more suited for that format.

Other than Kohli, fast bowling duo of Mohammad Shami and Shardul Thakur has been handed a comeback in the ODI team. Shami last played an ODI for India against Australia at Bengaluru more than a year ago. In the 50 ODIs that Shami has played for India, he has picked up 91 wickets at an average of 25.37, an economy rate of 5.48 and a strike rate of 27.7. However, he has only played three matches after his successful stint during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

On the other hand, Thakur was part of the Asia Cup squad but had to return back home after an injury.

Dinesh Karthik, who had scored 146 runs in six matches at an average of 48.66 and a strike rate of 71.21 during the Asia Cup, has been astonishingly left out of the squad. Kedar Jadhav, who was injured during the final of the Asia Cup, remains to be on the sidelines due to his hamstring injury.

Fast bowling quartet of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Siddarth Kaul and Deepak Chahar have all been rested/dropped respectively. Meanwhile, Khaleel Ahmed, who made his debut during the Asia Cup, has been retained in a three-man pace attack.

Below are some of the recent Twitter reactions on the Indian squad: