Jasprit Bumrah returned to India’s squads for the upcoming limited-overs series against Sri Lanka and Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Monday.
Opener Rohit Sharma, who finished 2019 as the top run-scorer in ODIs, has been rested for the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Sri Lanka, starting on January 5.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan, after missing out on India’s last series against the West Indies, has also returned to both the squads. Apart from Rohit, fast bowler Mohammed Shami is another big name who has been rested for Sri Lanka T20Is.
Bumarh has returned to the squad after a gap of four months as he underwent a surgery to treat his lower back problem. He last played an international match against the West Indies in August. Bumrah proved his fitness by bowling during India’s net session ahead of the second ODI against the West Indies in Vizag.
Shikhar Dhawan missed out on both T20I and ODI series against the West Indies after he suffered an injury during a domestic T20 game.
India’s limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma has been given a much-deserved break as he played constant cricket throughout 2019, stretching from IPL 2019 to the West Indies tour of India. He even led Team India whenever regular skipper Virat Kohli was rested.
The national selectors, led by chief selector MSK Prasad, met in New Delhi to pick both the squads.
After the meeting the chief selector said that Team India will appoint a specialist to help Rishabh Pant improve his wicket-keeping skills.
“Pant needs to improve his keeping skills. We will have him work under a specialist wicket-keeping coach,” Prasad told reporters after the meeting.
India are scheduled to play three T20Is against Sri Lanka, which will be followed by three ODIs against Australia starting January 14.
India’s squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar
India’s squad for Australia ODIs: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami.
(With PTI inputs)
