The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a 16-member squad for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand. All eyes were on Virat Kohli, who was expected to be rested, but the selectors have decided to pick him for the shorter format of the game.
However, there are some new faces in the team, with Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer and Hyderabad's Mohammed Siraj making it to the Indian squad. Both are uncapped.
Iyer has been scoring consistenly in the domestic circuit, and also for India A, helping him grab a spot in the national team, while Siraj's performance in the IPL has not gone unnoticed. It is not going to be easy for either of the players to find a place in the starting XI of an already settled unit.
"Shreyas has been performing in T20s and first-class games. We will continue with him and nurture him," said said chief selector MSK Prasad.
It has to be noted that Ashish Nehra has only been picked for the first match of the series in Delhi, which will be his last game in India colours. It is his farewell match.
Besids the inclusion of Iyer and Siraj, there were no major surprises, as India have decided to field a strong team for the New Zealand series.
Three T20 matches are set to be played, with the first game in in New Delhi on November 1. The second and the third T20I will be played in Rajkot (November 4) and Thiruvananthapuram (November 7).
India squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra (only for first T20I), Mohammed Siraj.
