Hardik Pandya has been selected as a captain for India’s T20 Series against Ireland. Two Twenty20 Internationals against Ireland will be played in Ireland later this month.
On Wednesday, the BCCI selected Hardik Pandya as the captain of India’s T20 team, which will tour Ireland later this month. Leaving KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer out completely due to reasons. India will meet Ireland in two-T20 matches of the bilateral series in Dublin on June 26 and June 28. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has been named as Vice-Captain for this series.
While Rahul’s next appearance for India is still uncertain due to his injury, the omissions of Pant (who captained India in Rahul’s absence in the T20s against South Africa) and Iyer are sure to spark questions about their form and whether they have been dropped from the team.
The postponed Test series decider against England, on the other hand, is set to take place from July 1 to 5, just three days after the Ireland tour concludes. Pant and Iyer are both in the test squad and will go straight to Birmingham to concentrate on their red-ball game, which is likely why they were left out of the T20 squad.
Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, and Rahul Tripathi have replaced the trio. Yadav is making his comeback to the Indian team after missing the South Africa series due to injury, while Samson has been recalled after failing to make the selection for the current series. As captain, the 27-year-old led Rajasthan Royals to the IPL final, which was recently completed. This is also Tripathi’s first call-up to the Indian national squad.
Following the end of the final Test, India will play three T20Is and three ODIs in England. The team chosen for those matches is more likely to reflect the team’s best limited-overs lineup.
The journey Ahead
For Indian cricket, two different squads for T20s and Tests could be the way forward. Last year, India tried out the model against England in a still-undecided test series, and a separate team, captained by Shikhar Dhawan, played a limited-overs series (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is) against Sri Lanka at home.
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