India name squad for series against Australia and Sri Lanka; Rohit rested for T20Is, Bumrah and Dhawan return after injury

What’s the story?

India announced the squads for the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka and the ODI rubber against Australia. Jasprit Bumrah returned to the fold whereas Rohit Sharma was accorded a rest for the shortest format.

In case you didn’t know...

India recently outwitted the West Indies in the ODI and T20I series, winning both with an identical 2-1 margin. Thus, all eyes subsequently turned to how the Men In Blue would line up for their opening set of fixtures in 2020.

The heart of the matter

After being diagnosed with a stress fracture, Bumrah had been on the side-lines for the past couple of months. However, after impressing during the nets in between the recent matches, the pacer was fast-tracked into the squad, considering his return to fitness.

Elsewhere, Mohammed Shami and Rohit were accorded a rest for the T20Is, with Shikhar Dhawan making a return to the squad. Sanju Samson too, kept his place in the shortest format with MSK Prasad earmarking him to be the back-up opener in T20Is.

Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur were also retained after their exploits against the West Indies with the pace duo expected to step up in the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar.

Meanwhile, there was no further clarity on MS Dhoni’s future with Prasad remarking that the legendary wicket-keeper had to first start playing to remain in contention for a spot.

Here are the complete squads for the series against Australia and Sri Lanka.

India Squad (T20Is against Sri Lanka): Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson

India Squad (ODIs against Australia): Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah

What’s next?

India begin the T20I series against Sri Lanka on the 5th of January and the Asian neighbours would lock horns in a three-match rubber, before Australia begin their Indian assignment on the 14th of January at the Wankhede Stadium.