Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli reportedly said that the West Indies series will be a good opportunity for the players who are not regular in the Indian squad to prove themselves. For the limited overs format, the selectors picked a few of them looking at the future.
Deepak and Rahul Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and Washington Sundar were all included in the squad. They are not regulars in the Indian squad but they definitely have promising talent.
Kohli stated that the selectors had the idea of about trying new players for the limited overs format in the upcoming tour.
"The T20s as you have seen, the squads, when I met the selectors, the basic message from them was to try out a few players that they had in mind. I think it is a very exciting opportunity for all the guys who are stepping in for the first time," Kohli said at the pre-departure press conference as reported by the PTI.
"The ODI side is more or less balanced and we have been really doing well, the Test side, needless to say, the kind of performances we have put in, so I am particularly excited about the three T20s, because as I said new lot of players coming in," Kohli added.
The 30-year-old cricketer also mentioned that some of the players have done well domestically so it will be a good opportunity for them to prove themselves in the international circuit.
"Some players who have done really well in the format and shown great composure under pressure in tournaments like IPL, domestically as well. So it's a great marker for all those guys and us as a team as well to have them in the squad," the captain further added.
The Men in Blue crashed out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 after getting defeated at the hands of New Zealand by 18 runs. The Indian middle-order could not control the pace bowling attack of the Kiwis and fell cheaply. After the exit from the quadrennial tournament questions started arising about the Indian middle-order. So looking at the future BCCI has given chances to some new faces to give it shot and make themselves a permanent member of the Indian squad.
India will face West Indies for two Test matches, three ODIs and the same number of T20 internationals. The first match of the T20 series is slated to be played on August 3.