Indian squad for the T20I and ODI series against New Zealand announced; three Royal Challengers to make the trip to New Zealand

Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan have been announced as the captains of the Indian T20I and ODI sides respectively for the upcoming New Zealand series that is slated to be played from November 18th. Three of India’s main batters, Rohit, Virat and KL Rahul have been rested from the squad while Rishabh Pant will be acting as the deputy to the Indian captains.

There are other significant call-ups for the bilateral affair as young pacer Umran Malik has been given another opportunity to prove himself. The youngster made quite a few ripples back in IPL with his brutal pace and will be expected to deliver handsomely in the pace-friendly conditions of New Zealand.

Barring Rohit, Kohli and Rahul, Dinesh Karthik and Mohammed Shami have also been rested from the squad as Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj and Ishan Kishan will be taking their mantles in the national squad.

Another significant development would be the return of Shreyas Iyer and Kuldeep Yadav to the national side in the shortest format of the game. Kuldeep Yadav has been impressive since the series against South Africa back home and was also instrumental in India’s exploits against New Zealand A in an official bilateral series.

Iyer’s recent form has been terrific and he would be hoping to bring the same set of numbers as India dukes it out against the formidable Blackcaps in the latter’s backyard. An injured Deepak Chahar will also be returning to the fold while Kuldeep Sen bagged his maiden call-up to the national side after a string of impressive displays in the Irani Trophy.

While Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel will be the two Royal Challengers representing Team India in the T20I series against New Zealand, Shahbaz Ahmed retains his spot in the ODI squad after an impressive debut series against South Africa at home.

India's T20I squad: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Rishabh Pant (Vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik

India's ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Rishabh Pant (Vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Washington Sundar, Umran Malik, Kuldeep Sen, Arshdeep Singh, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.