Team India depart for a short tour of the Caribbean
With the exception of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, who will be replaced by Kuldeep Yadav and Rishabh Pant, the squad for the West Indies tour has been retained from the Champions Trophy.
India came agonisingly close to defend their title but were outclassed by a rejuvenated Pakistan, who emerged victorious by 180 runs. Kohli and his boys did not show any resistance as they were bowled out for a paltry score of 158. It was a game the entire team would like to forget as soon as possible.
After the conclusion of the Champions Trophy, India are now headed for the West Indies to play a 5-match ODI series followed by a solitary T20 international. The composition of the side hasn’t changed much apart from young guns Kuldeep Yadav and Rishabh Pant coming in for Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma respectively. Sharma, who recently had undergone a hip surgery, needs to rest after playing non-stop cricket for the last 75 days. Bumrah, like Sharma, hasn’t gotten much rest either hence the team management decided to manage the duos workload.
Perfect opportunity for Kuldeep and Pant
This gives an opportunity to two youngsters to perform at the international level. Both Pant and Yadav have played for India before but those appearances were restricted to just a few games. They have been in good form in domestic cricket and carried that form into the IPL. Rahul Dravid had recently stressed on the importance of looking at a wrist spinner for ODIs and Kuldeep might just be the right man.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan, who had an outstanding CT, posted a picture on his Instagram account with the caption “Off to Caribbean”.
Young all-rounder Pandya too shared a similar post. He captioned it as “Past 25 days have been filled with experience and exploration. Thanks for the affection! Off to the Caribbean now! ♂️”
The schedule
The ODI series precede the T20 game. The first game will commence on June 23 at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago. The second ODI, scheduled to be played on June 25, will commence on the same ground. The next two ODIs, on June 30 and July 4, will take place at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda. The last ODI will be played at the Sabina Park in Jamaica on July 9. The T20 will be played at the same venue on July 9.
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