The speculations will not relent anytime soon, but well, MS Dhoni is not travelling with the Indian team which travels to West Indies. Chief selector spoke about grooming Rishabh Pant for the role across all the three formats and the young man has been picked in all three Indian squads. Also, Wriddhiman Saha makes a comeback to the Test side after achieving fitness.
There was a continuation in the selection process and while few key players were rested owing to workload management, the nucleus of the Indian team remains in place. There are also new faces in the limited-overs side as Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey were rewarded for their impressive performances in the ongoing 'A' series against West Indies.
However, there were a few names which were expected to be called up, but have missed out. We take a look at 3 surprising omissions from the Indian squad.
Shubman Gill
The young man was mighty impressive for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL this year and has continued his good form against West Indies A at the top of the order. He was tipped to be included in the limited-overs side but does not make the cut. Chief selector MSK Prasad said that Gill was included for the tour of New Zealand as a replacement of KL Rahul and now that the seasoned opener is back, Gill will have to wait for his chance.
KS Bharat
The young wicket-keeper from Andhra Pradesh was very close to getting the nod as per MSK Prasad, but then they went with Wriddhiman Saha as per an 'unwritten' rule which sees the inclusion of a senior player who was out injured but has regained his fitness.
"We have taken India A performances into consideration. In the longer format, KS Bharat was very, very close to getting selected. We have an unwritten norm when a senior cricketer is injured, he should get a comeback opportunity. That's what we have given to Saha," MSK Prasad said.
Mayank Agarwal
Mayank Agarwal, who was roped in as Vijay Shankar's replacement at the World Cup but then did not any game time, has not been considered in the limited-overs squads. Instead, the selectors have gone ahead and picked Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey to shore up the options in the middle order.
