Rohit Sharma named captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Venkatesh Iyer get in as India announce squad for New Zealand T20Is

Team India announced their much-anticipated squad for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand, which starts on November 17.

Brushing aside speculation, Rohit Sharma has been named skipper. This puts a rubber stamp on him being Virat Kohli's successor to India's T20I leadership. In an indication of what lies ahead for Indian white-ball cricket, Rohit's opening partner KL Rahul has been named vice-captain for the series.

Senior players including former T20I captain Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami have been given rest, considering the amount of cricket they have played this season. Hardik Pandya didn't make the team either, with Shreyas Iyer getting his place back into the team.

Some exciting inclusions see young Chennai Super Kings opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, promising all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer and IPL 2021's top wicket-taker Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan in the team.

India have also called back leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for the series, with both Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy getting the ax. The Men in Blue also stuck with the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar, while Mohammed Siraj was the most notable returnee to the bowling department.

India’s T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj

India also pick 'A' squad for the South Africa tour

The BCCI also announced the squad for the India 'A' tour of South Africa. Notably, domestic star Priyank Panchal was named captain ahead of the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal. Rahul Chahar found his place in the team here.

India ‘A’ squad for South Africa tour: Priyank Panchal (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Baba Aparajith, Upendra Yadav (wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Ishan Porel, Arzan Nagwaswalla