The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially announced the Indian cricket team squad for the upcoming T20 International series against New Zealand, beginning later this month.
The home series against New Zealand will mark the beginning of a new era for Indian cricket team after Virat Kohli stepped down as India’s T20I skipper, while Rahul Dravid will takeover the Head Coach duties from outgoing Ravi Shastri.
As expected, some of the top performers from the Indian Premier League 2021 has also been included into the squad, while some senior pros have been given a rest for the T20 International series and is likely to available for the Test series.
Among those IPL stars are the Orage Cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad and Purple Cap winner Harshal Patel. Other than them, Kolkata Knight Riders’ rising star of the season Venkatesh Iyer and IPL 2021’s 2nd highest wicket-taker Avesh Khan have also been included in the squad.
Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 635 runs in the IPL 2021, playing for Chennai Super Kings, ended up winning the Orange Cap. Harshal Patel, playing Royal Challengers Bangalore, picked up 32 wickets and came up as a surprising Purple Cap winner. Delhi Capitals’ Avesh Khan finished as the 2nd highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets.
Venkatesh Iyer, who was nowhere near the KKR starting eleven, was one of the biggest star in their stunning turn-around of fortunes in IPL 2021. He scored 370 runs in 10 matches and picked up 3 wickets.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been given another outing after failed to impress in the T20 World Cup 2021, while Yuzvendra Chahal, who didn’t made the cut to the T20 World Cup 2021 squad, is back again.
Rohit Sharma named Captain
Now the biggest question, ever since Virat Kohli announced that he will be stepping down from India’s T20 captain, there were lots of questions as to who will be the next T20 captain. Well, Rohit Sharma has been named captain for the New Zealand series for sure and is likely to continue beyond that as well, while KL Rahul will be his deputy in the squad.
NEWS – India’s squad for T20Is against New Zealand & India ‘A’ squad for South Africa tour announced.@ImRo45 named the T20I Captain for India.
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 9, 2021
More details here – https://t.co/lt1airxgZS #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/nqJFWhkuSB
India will play New Zealand in 3 T20 International matches and 2 Test matches, which will be part of the World Test Championship 2021-2023 cycle. The 3 T20I’s will be played from 17th November with the 2nd match on 19th November and the final match on 21st November.
Indian cricket team’s squad for New Zealand T20 Series
Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Siraj, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel
