Bumrah returns; Rohit, Shami rested
NEWDELHI: Fit-again Jasprit Bumrah will headline India’s pace attack in the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka (T20) and Australia (ODIS) next month, while vice-captain Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami were on Monday rested from the series versus the islanders
Bumrah was out with a stress fracture but has got the go-ahead from the India physio Nitin Patel to play Gujarat’s next Ranji Trophy game against Kerala
Shikhar Dhawan is also back in both the squads
“Jasprit Bumrah is back in both the teams for Sri Lanka and Australia and we have rested Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami for the Sri Lanka T20s Shikhar Dhawan also comes back and Sanju Samson will be the back-up opener in T20s,” chairman of selectors MSK Prasad told reporters at an informal gathering after squad selection here
India will take on Sri Lanka in three T20IS from January 5, followed by as many ODIS against Australia from January 14
However, it was bad news for Deepak Chahar, who has aggravated his back injury and will be out till the start of next year’s IPL Navdeep Saini will continue to be in the squad
“Against Australia, we have all three openers available—shikhar, Rohit and KL Rahul,” Prasad said
Rohit has appeared in 47 matches across formats this year, three more than captain Virat Kohli and a break was long on the cards
HARDIK, SHAW NAMED IN INDIA ‘A’ SQUAD
While talented opener Prithvi Shaw—back in the mix after serving an eight-month doping ban— will be going to New Zealand with India ‘A’, there is still some time before Hardik Pandya recovers from his back surgery
“(As for) Hardik, we will have a look at him in the third week of January,” Prasad said, indicating that the all-rounder could only be available in the second half of New Zealand tour The tour comprising five T20IS, three ODIS and two Tests starts January 24
Prasad, however, was tightlipped on the topic of MS Dhoni “I can’t comment on that Mahi has to first play to be available for selection,” said Prasad
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is nursing a sports hernia and Chahar is out till April, but Prasad said there is no cause of concern
“Deepak was doing well as he played the Vijay Hazare Trophy and suddenly he aggravated his back in Visakhapatnam,” he said
Prasad added the selectors are banking on Shardul Thakur, who can swing at a decent pace SQUADS:
For 3 T20IS v Sri Lanka: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur,
Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson
For 3 ODIS v Australia: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah