The Indian cricket team is all set to face the West Indies in a five-match T20I series next month. The squad for the upcoming series was announced by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee on Wednesday (July 5). Senior players including the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and, Ravindra Jadeja, were dropped from the T20I squad. However, the trio has been named in the ODI and Test squad.
The team will be led by star all-rounder Hardik Pandya and he will have many young players at his disposal, who will be eager to make the most of the opportunity.
Aakash Chopra On Why BCCI Dropped Ravindra Jadeja
Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja might have been rested for the upcoming T20I series against the West Indies. Chopra pointed out that Jadeja’s place in the Indian T20I squad should not be questioned.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra explained that the team management is considering managing Ravindra Jadeja’s workload. He said:
“There are four options in spin-bowling – Axar Patel, Yuzi (Yuzvendra) Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi. Axar Patel will be first in this race because Ravindra Jadeja’s name is not there. I am assuming it is part of workload management,”
He added: “There shouldn’t be any question marks over Ravindra Jadeja in terms of T20Is, just my thought, but he will play Tests and ODIs as well. So you say that he can rest a little.
You should play Axar Patel and then you have got other spinning options as well. So that could be the thinking,”
Notably, Ravindra Jadeja played his last T20I match against Hong Kong during the Asia Cup 2022. Jadeja had to miss the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia because of a knee injury. Recently, he played a match-winning knock in the final clash of IPL 2023 and helped Chennai Super Kings to grab their fifth IPL trophy.
Further, Chopra said that the selectors made the right decision to pick four spinners in the line-up, highlighting the spin bowling conditions in the West Indies. He said:
“There are five T20Is and you are taking four spinners for that in the West Indies – makes a lot of sense. When you used to go to the West Indies earlier, you used to take a plethora of fast bowlers, when they also used to have fast bowlers but now they don’t have. Now generally you have slow and turning pitches there. So you have got four spinners,”
He added: “You have two leg-spinners in Ravi Bishnoi and Yuzi Chahal. Then you have got two left-arm spinners in Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, in which one is a left-arm leg-spinner and one is orthodox. The spin department is alright,”
India’s T20I Squad For West Indies Series:
Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
