Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were named in India’s ODI squad on Wednesday for the West Indies series starting this month, as the team continue to prepare for next year’s World Cup.
Both Rohit, 39, and Kohli, 37, only play the 50-over format internationally after retiring from Test and T20I cricket.
Shubman Gill will lead the 15-man squad for the three-match series starting September 27 in Thiruvananthapuram.
According to media reports, Rohit’s place was in doubt despite hitting 138 in his last ODI outing against England at Lord’s in July.
The two stalwarts of Indian cricket are keen to play in next year’s ODI World Cup, but fans and pundits are divided over their places in the side.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja returns to the squad, having last played an ODI in January.
Medium-pace bowler Auqib Nabi and batting all-rounder Naman Dhir could be in line for their international debuts after receiving their maiden call-ups.
India will also play the Caribbean tourists in five T20 internationals, starting on October 6 in Lucknow.
Selectors also made changes to India’s Asian Games squad, with spinner Varun Chakravarthy ruled out due to a side strain injury he suffered during the ongoing Afghanistan T20 series in New Delhi.
He will also miss the one-off T20 against Japan in Sano on September 22.
All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was originally included in the Asian Games squad, has been withdrawn and will instead feature in the ODI series against the West Indies.
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
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
Source: Khaleej Times

