Shikhar Dhawan has been named captain of India’s 16-member ODI squad for their upcoming tour of the West Indies, which includes three 50-over games and five T20Is.
Dhawan will lead India in their three-match ODI series later this month, as announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on July 6. Ravindra Jadeja has been named the vice-captain in the 16-member squad, which has notable absentees in regular skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami. KL Rahul, who recently underwent surgery for a sports hernia, was not considered for selection.
Dhawan had led India during their white-ball tour of Sri Lanka last July year, which included three ODIs and as many T20Is. The team was coached by Rahul Dravid in an interim capacity then, with a Virat-led side comprising other senior members, playing the Test series in England.
Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan are the two wicket-keeping options in the setup in Rishabh Pant’s absence. Both made their ODI debuts in Sri Lanka last year. While Kishan had scored a 42-ball 59 in the series opener and represented India in two more ODIs thereafter, Samson hasn’t found a place in the XI after scoring run-a-ball 46 on his debut in the third ODI.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill are the potential opening partners to Dhawan, with the latter making a comeback in the ODI side after having last played during India’s tour of Australia in 2020/21.
Gaikwad, who has played in nine T20Is, has yet to make his ODI debut. The right-hander, who had finished as the leading run-scorer in Chennai Super Kings’ victorious IPL 2021, has been in supreme 50-over form too, having aggregated 603 runs from just five innings, including four hundreds for Maharashtra during the Vijay Hazare Trophy in December last year. He maintained a high-strike rate of 112.94 across those five innings.
Iyer lends some experience to the middle-order, which also features Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda, the latter of whom has been in supreme T20 form of late, having struck a maiden T20I hundred against Ireland in June after having excelled for the Lucknow Super Giant in the IPL 2022. Hooda’s only two ODI appearances, which came against West Indies in February.
Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur are the all-rounders alongside Jadeja, with Yuzvendra Chahal being the lead spinner. The fast-bowling attack includes Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and the uncapped pair of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan. Arshdeep, the left-arm seamer, is also a part of the ODI squad in England.
India’s white-ball tour of the Caribbean begins within a week’s time after the conclusion of their ODI series in England on July 17. India and West Indies will face off in three ODIs at the Port of Spain, Trinidad, on July 22, 24 and 27, respectively.
The five-match T20I series begins on July 29 at Tarouba, Trinidad, followed by the second and third games in Basseterre, St Kitts, on August 1 and 2. The teams will then travel to Florida for the fourth and fifth T20I.
