NEW DELHI — Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav were picked Thursday for India’s limited-over tour of the West Indies comprising five One-Day Internationals and one Twenty20 starting June 23.
The two youngsters replace opening batsman Rohit Sharma and allrounder Hardik Pandya from the 15-man Champions Trophy squad, which is defending its title in England and Wales.
Pant, who has played just one T20 International for India, and Yadav were already on the radar after being named among five players kept on standby for the 50-over tournament.
The duo have been rewarded for their excellent showing on the domestic circuit, including impressive displays in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament.
Pant, 19, hit two fifties for Delhi Daredevils in the recent IPL edition, following on from a 326-ball 308 in the domestic Ranji Trophy last season.
His aggressive left-handed batting and ability to handle the pressure of a high-stakes match impressed chief selector MSK Prasad, who described him as a “player for the future”.
Yadav piqued interest in his Test debut, clinching four wickets in India’s series victory over Australia in March.
The 22-year-old from Kanpur in northern India also put in a strong showing for his IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Virat Kohli-led India will leave directly for the Caribbean Islands after wrapping up their ongoing Champions Trophy campaign.
India though does not officially have a coach for the West Indies tour, with Anil Kumble only contracted until the end of the Champions Trophy.
“The administrative staff of the Indian Cricket Team will continue for the tour of West Indies,” said the Board of Control for Cricket in India, without clarifying the coach’s position.
The BCCI has hinted Kumble could stay on for the West Indies tour. The position for head coach was advertised last month, with Kumble among the names in the mix.
The squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and Dinesh Karthik.
Windies and Afghanistan ODI rained off
Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai hopes his team will get more opportunities to face top-flight cricket nations after its One-Day International series against the West Indies ended in a 1-1 draw Wednesday.
Steady rain forced the abandonment of the third and final one-dayer with not a ball being bowled at St Lucia’s Darren Sammy Stadium with the series balanced at one apiece.
But Stanikzai said he believes his team, which lost a T20 series 3-0, did enough to show it deserves more regular matches against full member nations of the International Cricket Council.
“We didn’t play as well as we could have but I thought we did enough to show that we deserve to play the bigger teams more often,” said Stanikzai. “This was a great experience for us and we can look forward now to what lies ahead with greater confidence.”
West Indies captain Jason Holder accepted that his team faced a tough challenge.
“We were up against it after the first match but came back well in the second and we have shown in the previous series against Pakistan that we can compete with the best teams in the world also,” he commented.
West Indies is currently ranked ninth in ODI’s and should it fail to reach the top eight by the cut-off date of Sept. 30 this year, it will have to go through a qualifying tournament next year for the 2019 World Cup in England. — Agencies
