Fresh looking Indian side announced for the forthcoming New Zealand series with Rohit Sharma as captain

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has named Rohit Sharma as the captain of the Indian T20I team for the upcoming New Zealand series. Wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul will also be the co-captain. However, the BCCI has not confirmed whether Rohit has been given the permanent captaincy of the T20I team.

Before the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, Virat Kohli announced that he was leaving the leadership of this format at the end of the tournament. So Kohli stepped down as captain of the team soon after being finishing their games in the tournament.

The 3-match T20I series between India and the finalists of the T20 world cup will start on November 17 in Jaipur. However, a lot of Indian regular players won’t be seen in this series. Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammed Shami have been rested for the series due to their long bio-bubble protection. Besides, Hardik Pandya has also been dropped from the team for playing poorly in the T20 World Cup.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, the highest run-getter in IPL 2021 alongside the top two wicket-takers in IPL, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan has been named in the squad. Batsman Shreyas Iyer and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who was not given a place in the T20 World Cup squad, have returned to the squad. The selectors have also named Venkatesh Iyer as a replacement for all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Although Ruturaj Gaikwad made his debut in the series against Sri Lanka, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, and Avesh Khan have not yet made their debuts for the Indian national team.

Indian T20 team: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj

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