Rishabh Pant gets ODI call-up for West Indies tour

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced the Indian squad for the tour of West Indies. While a majority of the team that was picked for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 has been retained the selectors have made two changes in the team. Young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has received his maiden ODI call-up.

The other change in the team is the inclusion of 22-year-old chinaman Kuldeep Yadav. Both Pant and Yadav have been around the team for some time now while the attacking batter has made his T20I debut, the spinner has been named in the ODI team in the past but is yet to earn a cap. They are coming in since the selectors decided to rest opener Rohit Sharma and pacer Jasprit Bumrah.

The duo of Sharma and Bumrah have had a heavy workload having played all the matches in the Indian Premier League as Mumbai Indians went on to win the tournament. Rohit was coming into the IPL on the back of a 6-month injury layoff and with the Champions Trophy closely following the T20 league the rest was much needed. He will most likely be a part of the Indian team across formats for the tour of Sri Lanka.

Bumrah, on the other hand, has played most matches for the Indian team in both the limited-overs formats since making his debut along with Mumbai Indians duties. He would relish the rest before setting up for the Lankan tour.

Pant if included in the XI will take the role of the opener alongside his Delhi senior mate Shikhar Dhawan and make it an all left-handers opening pair for Team India. While Kuldeep might have to wait until the team wins the series given the presence of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as the front line spinners in the squad.

Yadav has made it to the squad on the back of some good figures in domestic cricket along with the IPL. The selectors decided to back the chinaman who recently made his Test debut against Australia ahead of the two more experienced leg-spinners Amit Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal who have done well in the limited opportunities they have been awarded by the selectors.

Indian squad for West Indies tour:

Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Dinesh Karthik

The Men in Blue will play 5 ODIs and a T20I on the tour starting June 23.