New Delhi: The 21-year-old leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi has been handed his maiden India call-up as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 18-member Indian team squad for the upcoming home series against West Indies. India will play three ODIs and as many T20Is against the West Indies, in Ahmedabad and Kolkata respectively, beginning from February 6 in Ahmedabad onwards.
Bishnoi had impressed one and all with his stunning bowling for the Punjab Kings in the IPL 2020 and continued his unbeaten performance for the franchise in the IPL 2021 as well. This was a well-earned reward for the youngster’s consistency with the ball.
Rohit Sharma passed his fitness test and will lead the Indian team in both ODIs and T20Is against the West Indies. After a long hiatus, spinner Kuldeep Yadav will be back to the 50-over fold to pair up with leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar dropped from the ODI series, post the ordinary series against South Africa. R Ashwin hasn’t been included either in the ODI squad or for the T20Is.
There have been talks about the senior off-spinner being ruled out due to an injury. But the BCCI press release didn’t mention anything, although it confirmed that “Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami have been rested” and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been “undergoing his final stage of recovery post his knee injury”.
There weren’t many surprises in the Indian squad for the West Indies T20I series at home. Rohit, KL Rahul, and Ishan Kishan were named as the openers. Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and Venkatesh Iyer made up the batting department. KL Rahul will be available from the 2nd ODI whereas Axar Patel will be available only for T20Is. Sundar, who missed the South Africa ODIs after contracting Covid-19, is named in both the squads for the home series.
India T20I squad against West Indies: Rohit Sharma(Capt), KL Rahul (vc), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel
T20I squad: Rohit Sharma(Capt),KL Rahul (vc),Ishan Kishan,Virat Kohli,Shreyas Iyer,Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk),Venkatesh Iyer,Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi,Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 26, 2022
India ODI squad against West Indies: Rohit Sharma (Capt), KL Rahul (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), D Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan
ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), KL Rahul (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), D Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 26, 2022
 announced squad for the series against West Indies){kind=link}