Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Named in India ODI Squad

NEW DELHI: (Sports Desk) – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been included in India’s ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against the West Indies, as the team continues preparations for next year’s World Cup.

The 39-year-old Rohit and 37-year-old Kohli currently play only the 50-over format for India after retiring from Test and T20I cricket.

Shubman Gill will captain the 15-member squad for the series, which begins on September 27 in Thiruvananthapuram.

Rohit’s place in the squad had reportedly been uncertain despite his impressive 138-run innings against England at Lord’s in July, his most recent ODI appearance.

Both Rohit and Kohli have expressed their desire to feature in next year’s ODI World Cup, although their continued presence in the team has sparked debate among Indian cricket fans and pundits.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has also returned to the ODI squad after last playing the format in January.

Medium-pacer Auqib Nabi and batting all-rounder Naman Dhir have received their maiden international call-ups and could make their India debuts during the series.

India will also face the West Indies in a five-match T20I series, beginning October 6 in Lucknow.

Meanwhile, the selectors have made changes to India’s Asian Games squad. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been ruled out after suffering a side strain during the ongoing T20I series against Afghanistan in New Delhi. He will also miss India’s one-off T20I against Japan in Sano on September 22.

All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was initially selected for the Asian Games, has been withdrawn from the squad and will instead feature in the ODI series against the West Indies.

India ODI squad: Shubman Gill (capt), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Naman Dhir.

India T20I squad: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav.

Updated Asian Games squad: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Vipraj Nigam.