Dhawan, Karthik in squad for series against Kiwis
HYDERABAD: In a season of home series, India wrapped up yet another assignment, sharing the T20 series with Australia after a wet out field scuppered chances of the decider being played in Hyderabad on Friday.
The hosts didn’ t dominate like they did in the ODIs as the 1-1 results suggests, but can take heart from how a young bowling attack held its own in the first game in Ran chi. Kul deep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar all got wickets as Australia were restricted to less than 120, sealing an easy win.
India will continue to play at home till the year-end with New Zealand their next opponents, in a three-match O DI series starting on October 22.
The New Zealand squad to face India, will have six players from the ‘A’ team currently playing India ‘A’, an incentive for the fringe players.
The Indian selectors have also started a process of rotation since the Sri Lanka limited-overs series in August-September. And the squad selected for the series against New Zealand indicates that is likely to continue.
Shikhar Dhawan, who missed the Australia O DI series to attend to his ailing wife, is back while Di ne sh K art hik also returns. The 32-year-old was an injury replacement inthe ICC Champions Trophy–he did not get a game – and played two matches in the Caribbean tour that followed. But he was not in the squad in Sri Lank a or against Australia.
Seniors like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja made way for wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who have been retained to face the Kiwis. Pacers Mo hammed Sh a mi and Umesh Yadav have also not been included.
Among the fringe players, Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur, who made his ODI debut in Sri Lank a, has been recalled. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and Sh rey as I ye rh ave both been in the India A side for a while now, but have not been given a chance. The current Indian line-up looks settled, but several questions lurk in the backdrop.
Like, who is the No 1 injury back-up for MS D ho ni? Are more options needed in the middle order, which has been inconsist
ent? These are questions that need to be answered in the build-up to the 201 9World Cup. s.
THE INDIAN SELECTORS HAVE ALSO STARTED A PROCESS OF ROTATION SINCE THE SRI LANKA LIMITEDOVERS SERIES IN AUGUSTSEPTEMBER