Virat Kohli, who was rested for India’s triumphant Asia Cup campaign, has returned to the ODI squad for the first two ODIs against Windies.
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Dinesh Karthik has been left out of the squad, while Rishabh Pant, yet to play an ODI, has been included. The squad is close to a full strength one from the batting side, though fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have both been rested.
Ravindra Jadeja, who impressed when recalled partway through the Asia Cup, has retained his place while Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya, injured mid-way through that tournament, remain absent. Shardul Thakur, who had been out with hip and groin soreness, has returned to the squad.
Read: Bumrah, Kumar, Pandya, and Sharma all out of Windies series
Kedar Jadhav played an unbeaten knock to guide India to that Asia Cup title, though a hamstring injury hampered him in the latter parts of the innings. He has failed to recover sufficiently from that injury, but could be in contention for the latter stages of the series.
Karthik’s exclusion could spell the end of his hopes of participation at next year’s Cricket World Cup. He contributed handily throughout the Asia Cup without nailing his place, making four scores between 30 and 50, and it might be that India have now chosen to look to the future.
Read More: India creep home in final-over thriller to defend Asia Cup title
Dhoni’s place had come under some pressure with him having struggled to score freely, but he has retained his place and been named as first choice wicket-keeper. The first ODI takes place
Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, KL Rahul
