Yuzvendra Chahal, Faiz Faisal included in the team for Zimbabwe series, Shami makes a comeback to Test team for West Indies tour.
Yuzvendra Chahal, Faiz Faisal included in the team for Zimbabwe series, Shami makes a comeback to Test team for West Indies tour.
Mumbai
: Big names such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin were rested as selectors on Monday picked the MS Dhoni-led team for the tour of Zimbabwe.
Selectors included uncapped Yuzvendra Chahal, Faiz Faisal, Karun Nair and Mandeep Singh in the 16-member squad.
While Karnataka batsman Nair made it to the Indian side, Shreyas Iyer, who was the leading run-getter in Ranji season, was not picked for the Zimbabwe and West Indies tour.
#TeamIndia for #ZimvInd ODIs and T20Is @msdhoni to lead the 16-member team pic.twitter.com/zxOP1GS7Dr
— BCCI (@BCCI) May 23, 2016
The Sandeep Patil-led selection panel also picked the 17-man squad for the four-match Test series against West Indies.
The Selection Committee Meeting has started at Cricket Centre to pick teams for Zimbabwe and West Indies tour pic.twitter.com/zwIveExvdU
— BCCI (@BCCI) May 23, 2016
While Kohli will lead the side, Ajinkya Rahane, who had captained the Indian team during their tour to ZImbabwe in 2015, was named the vice-captain Varun Aaron was dropped from the team while Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur received a maiden call-up to India's Test squad.
#TeamIndia for #WIvInd Tests - @imVkohli to lead 17-member team pic.twitter.com/55oSfwp25R
— BCCI (@BCCI) May 23, 2016
Zimbabwe will host India for three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 matches in June.
All the matches will be played at Harare Sports Club with the ODIs scheduled to be played between June 11-15 and the Twenty20s between June 18-22.
India have been regular travellers to Zimbabwe in recent seasons with three previous tours since 2010, including last year, all featuring limited-overs matches.
The series against Zimbabwe could be Dhoni's last assignment this season given that India are set to play 17 Test matches starting with a four-Test series in the Caribbean.
The Indian team is unlikely to get a new coach anytime soon with the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee member Sourav Ganguly on Sunday saying it will take another couple of months to find a suitable candidate for the high-profile position.
This means the team will be without a full-time coach during its tour of Zimbabwe beginning June 11.
-"It will happen in the next couple of months. I am not too sure if it happens before the Zimbabwe tour because it is not too far away,-" said Cricket Association of Bengal President Sourav Ganguly, who is on the advisory panel, alongside Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.
Post the short tour of Zimbabwe, India travel to the West Indies for a four-match Test series in July-August.
Since Duncan Fletcher's departure, India played under the guidance of team director Ravi Shastri, whose tenure ended with the World T20 in March-April.
Accelerating their efforts to find a new coach for the national cricket team, the BCCI on Sunday decided to advertise for the position and set June 10 as the deadline for applications.
“We will advertise for the post of coach today and by June 10 anyone can apply and shortlisting will be done after that,” said newly-elected BCCI President Anurag Thakur at the BCCI headquarters.
“We are keeping it open, we want people to come. They can come forward, apply and then we can look at the proposals, who are the applicants and who are best for BCCI,” he added.
