India pick youth for Windies tour

NEW DELHI: Indian selectors on Sunday announced fresh, young faces for the upcoming West Indies tour following the shock semi-final exit in the recent World Cup, and amid speculation about the future of veteran M.S. Dhoni.

India start a tour of the West Indies on August 3 that includes two Tests, three T20 Internationals and three One-Day Internationals.

Chief selector M.S.K. Prasad said Virat Kohli would continue to lead in all three formats against the West Indies. The tour is seen as the start of India’s rebuilding process after the World Cup disappointment.

Rishabh Pant, a young and flamboyant wicketkeeper batsman who was also a part of India’s recent World Cup campaign, was named in all three squads for the upcoming tour.

The other youngsters are Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and the yet uncapped fast bowler Navdeep Saini, who were included in the white ball T20 and ODI squads.

The selectors also included uncapped leg spinner Rahul Chahar for the T20s.

Prasad brushed aside speculation about the future of former skipper and wicketkeeper batsman Dhoni after his form dipped during the World Cup.

“Retirement is purely individual. Legendary cricketer like M.S Dhoni, he knows when to retire,” Prasad said.

“We don’t need to discuss anything on it, because first of all he is not available. Second, we have already started grooming some youngsters.”

Reports on Saturday said Dhoni was skipping the West Indies tour to spend two months in the army, but is not planning to walk away from the game.

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, C Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.

India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini.

India T20 squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.