Nidahas Trophy, 2018: 5 Indian cricketers to watch out for

The BCCI announced a 15 member squad for the Nidahas Trophy, a tri-nation T20I series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, which begins on March 6.

There were a lot of changes made to the squad, with captain Virat Kohli being rested. Rohit Sharma, who captained India in the third and final T20I against South Africa, will captain the side for the tri-series as well.

MS Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Jasprit Bumrah were rested as well. In their place, the team management decided to go with a few young and inexperienced players.

Let's take a look at the five Indian cricketers to watch out for in the upcoming Nidahas Trophy:

#5 Rishabh Pant

It's been a year since Rishabh Pant made his debut for the Indian cricket team. However, he managed to play a total of just two T20Is before going out of favour with the selectors.

He did not have a great season playing for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, as he managed to score just 315 runs in nine innings at an average of 35.

He began to find his feet in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring a half-century against Uttar Pradesh. A few matches later, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he smashed a spectacular century against Himachal Pradesh.

With MS Dhoni being rested for the series, all eyes will be on the youngster Pant, who would hope to make a mark for himself and cement his place in the T20I side for the future.

#4 Deepak Hooda

The 22-year-old has been knocking on the doors of Indian cricket for quite some time now. He came into prominence after a good outing at the U-19 World Cup in 2014.

Since then, he has played a lot of domestic cricket and has played a big role in Baroda's success.

He was their top scorer in this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with 173 runs to his name in four innings at an average of 43.25.

He followed that up with a spectacular outing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well, with 352 runs in seven innings at an average of 50, which includes a 161 run knock against Railways.

#3 Mohammed Siraj

The 23-year-old youngster made his T20I debut for the Indian cricket team last year. He played two T20Is, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. However, he had a forgetful outing, as he conceded more than 40 runs in both matches and managed to pick up just one wicket each.

He was dropped from the side after the Sri Lanka series and was not included in the squad for the series against South Africa.

However, after his spectacular performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he ended up as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, the selectors have decided to give him another go.

With Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, both being rested, Siraj will look to make the most of the opportunities he gets.

#2 Vijay Shankar

A promising all-rounder, Vijay Shankar has been an integral part of Tamil Nadu's squad over the past few years.

He has been handy with the bat and the ball, scoring runs in the middle order, and picking up a lot of wickets as well.

He was named in the squad after an impressive outing in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament and Vijay Hazare trophy as well.

With Hardik Pandya not being included in the squad, Shankar will look to fill in his boots and hope to make a mark for himself and get the selectors to notice his performances.

#1 Suresh Raina

A few months ago, Suresh Raina's future in the Indian cricket team was a big question mark. However, he was given another chance to redeem himselg when he was included in the squad for the T20I series against South Africa.

He did not score a single half-century, but came up with worthy contributions in all three T20Is. He was even named the man of the match in the final T20I, after scoring 43 runs with the bat and picking up a wicket and conceding just 27 runs in the four overs he bowled.

With the absence of a few big names, Raina will look to shoulder the responsibility and carry the middle order on his shoulders.