Harshal receives Team India call up, Chahal, Siraj return to the T20I squad

India have announced a 16-member squad for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand, which kicks off on 17th November. Rohit Sharma has been named the new captain, while Virat Kohli who relinquished captaincy after the T20 World Cup campaign has been rested. Karnataka batsman KL Rahul, who was the highest run-scorer for India in the T20 World Cup, will be Rohit Sharma’s deputy.

Three RCB players - leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, medium pacer Harshal Patel, and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj - too have been called to the side. All three had had a great IPL but were missing from the T20 World Cup squad. India will play three T20Is at Jaipur, Ranchi, and Kolkata respectively.

Spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Chahar, pacers Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur who were a part of the T20 World Cup squad, have not been included in the 16-member side. Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested. 

The selection committee also rewarded Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, and Ruturaj Gaikwad for a brilliant IPL, which concluded last month.

India’s T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj.

The selection committee also picked the India A squad for the South Africa tour which will kick off from 23rd of this month. The team will feature in three 4-day games on the tour.

India ‘A’ squad for South Africa tour: Priyank Panchal (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Baba Aparajith, Upendra Yadav (wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Ishan Porel, Arzan Nagwaswalla.