Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have been rested for the T20I tri-series in Sri Lanka starting March 6. Rohit Sharma has been named captain of the 15-member squad for the tournament which will also feature Bangladesh.
Kohli played all three Tests, all six ODIs and two of three T20Is on the tour of South Africa, scoring 871 runs. He was rested for the final match of the tour due to a stiff back.
Pace bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav have also been rested.
MSK Prasad, chairman, all-India senior selection committee, said: “We’ve kept in mind the workload and upcoming schedule while finalizing the team for Nidahas Trophy. The high-performance team has suggested that adequate rest should be given to our fast bowlers to help improve athletic performance, maximize rest and prevent injury.”
Dhoni, who played all the limited overs matches, asked for a rest from the tri series, according to chief selector MSK Prasad.
“Mr MS Dhoni was not available for selection as he had requested for rest,” he added.
Kohli, who missed the final T20I of the South Africa tour due to a stiff back, finished the journey with 871 runs - most by an Indian captain on an away tour. The previous most for India was by Rahul Dravid who made 645 runs on West Indies tour in 2006. Overall, It’s the second most by any captain behind Graeme Smith’s tally of 937 against England in 2003. Kohli scored 27 in the two first two T20Is, 558 in the ODI series and 286 in the three Tests.
Bhuvneshwar was adjudged man of the series in T20Is for taking 7 wickets in three matches at an average of 9.57 with 5 for 24 being his best performance. He was outstanding with the ball throughout the tour. He picked up 10 wickets in 2 Tests, 2 wickets in 5 ODIs and ended up with 7 in the T20I series.
Bumrah, who made his Test debut in the first match against South Africa, bagged 14, 8 and 1 wickets in Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively on the tour. Pandya too played all the 12 matches in South Africa and thus was given a much-needed break before the Indian Premier League.
Kuldeep picked up 17 wickets in the six-match ODI series in South Africa before he was injured during the first T20I against them.
India have been in a sensational form in the T20 Internationals since the start of the 2016. India have won 8 out of 11 bilateral T20I series with their first victory in that period coming in Australia (3-0). India then defeated Sri Lanka 2-1 at home before clinching the Asia Cup.
India had reached the semi-final of the World Twenty20 where they lost to eventual champions West Indies. However, India bounced back strongly to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 before again losing to West Indies 1-0 in a 2-match series. India then beat England 2-1 at home, lost to West Indies in one-off game, beat Sri Lanka 1-0, drew vs Australia 1-1, beat New Zealand 2-1, thrashed Sri Lanka 3-1 and beat South Africa 2-1.
After the tri series, Indian players will be busy with the Indian Premier League which starts April 7.
Here is the full squad:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant (wk).
INDIA TODAY
