India vs WI: T20 Squad Announced, Hardik To Lead While Tilak Varma Gets Call-Up

India vs West Indies: Hyderabad's Tilak Varma reaped rewards of his impressive show for Mumbai Indians in IPL.

India vs West Indies: Tilak Varma has earned his maiden national team call-up

(Photo: BCCI)

The Indian T20I squad for the upcoming five-match series against West Indies was released on Wednesday, 5 July. With the usual skipper, Rohit Sharma not named in the team, Hardik Pandya will continue leading the team in the shortest format, while Tilak Varma has received his maiden call-up.

The 20-year-old from Hyderabad has been impressive for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), having scored 740 runs in two seasons. Barring him, fellow young left-handed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was previously selected for both ODI and Test squads, has been handed a place in the T20I squad as well.

Suryakumar Yadav, who is currently head and shoulders above everyone else in ICC's men's T20I batting rankings, with 906 points, has been appointed as the vice-captain for the series.

Wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, who missed India's last T20I expedition owing to an injury, is making a comeback following a decent IPL 2023 campaign, while speedster Avesh Khan has also earned his place back, having last featured in the 2022 Asia Cup.

"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," BCCI secretary Jay Shah wrote in a statement.

India’s T20I squad: 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.

Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma Snubbed

Whilst the likes of Varma and Jaiswal have reaped rewards for their performance in IPL, a couple of omissions have surprised a section of the Indian fanbase.

Rinku Singh, among IPL 2023's showstoppers with 474 runs, including a last-over heroic which saw him hitting five consecutive sixes, has not been included in the team.

Barring Rinku, another promising finisher in Jitesh Sharma, who scored 309 runs for Punjab Kings this season, has also not been selected for the Caribbean and USA tour.

Five Matches To Be Played Across the Caribbean and USA

India will play a total of five T20I matches against West Indies, following the conclusion of the Test and ODI series. Three of these matches will be played in the Caribbean, with the last two fixtures scheduled to be held in Florida's Central Broward Regional Park Stadium.

India vs West Indies T20I Series Schedule

1^ST T20I – 3 August, Trinidad

2^nd T20I – 6 August, Guyana

3^rd T20I – 8 August, Guyana

4^th T20I – 12 August, Florida

5^th T20I – 13^th August, Florida