T20I series against West Indies: Hardik Pandya to lead, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli rested

India vs West Indies T20I series: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the Indian squad for the five-match T20I series against the West Indies. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma received maiden T20I call-ups, while Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were rested for the tour, which will commence on July 12. 

Left-handed batter Tilak Varma, who was exceptional for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2023, has been in fine form and has a healthy strike rate of 142.54. 

Jaiswal, who won the Orange Cap in IPL 2023, has been a fine performer during the IPL in the opening overs. Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav have been chosen as the spinners, whereas Axar Patel has been chosen as the all-rounder. 

In a media release, the Indian cricket's governing body said, "The Senior Men's Selection Committee on Wednesday picked India's squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against West Indies to be played in the Caribbean Islands and in Florida, USA."

However, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Rinku Singh failed to secure a spot in the Indian T20I squad despite his powerful innings in the IPL.  

The squad has two wicket-keepers -- Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals and Ishan Kishan from Mumbai Indians. The squad also has Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill, who have both come up the ranks big time in the last one and half years. Hardik Pandya has been named as the skipper for the series. 

Among those to have missed the cut are Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar and Prithvi Shaw. 

India's T20I squad for West Indies T20Is 

Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar. 

The India vs West Indies T20I series will be played from August 3 to August 13. Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba will host the first game of the series, after which the second and third matches will take place at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. 

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