Rohit to lead India in T20I series against Bangladesh

Rohit Sharma was named captain of the Indian squad in the upcoming India-Bangladesh T20 International series as Virat Kohli was rested from the three-match affair beginning on November 3.

Rohit Sharma will lead the 15-member Indian squad, the Board of Control For Cricket in India (BCCI) announced today.

Kohli, however, will return to lead India in the two-match Test series. There were no changes in India’s squad for the longest format.

Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube earned his maiden India call-up while Kerala wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson made a comeback to the Indian T20I side 4 years after making his debut in Zimbabwe in 2015.

Kohli was given a break keeping his workload in mind. Rohit Sharma, fresh from his tremendous showing in the Test series against South Africa, was appointed as captain in the T20Is.

Newly elected BCCI president Sourav Ganguly too met Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the first time after being elected as the 39th president of the board.

India T20I squad: Rohit Sharma(Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant(wk), Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur.

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Saha (wk), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant.

The T20I series between India and Bangladesh will begin on November 3 in New Delhi. The second T20I will be played on November 7 in Rajkot and the third match is slated to take place in Nagpur on November 10.

The Test series will begin from November 14 in Indore. The final Test will be played at the Eden Gardens from November 22.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to open the final match by ringing a giant bell at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 22.

The newly elected BCCI President Sourav Ganguly earlier invited Sheikh Hasina and accordingly she “accepted the invitation” to enjoy the match with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Benerjee.

The BCCI will also invite all the players of the two countries who had played the first-ever test match at the Bangabandhu Stadium in 2000 as Sourav wants to make the upcoming India-Bangladesh Test in Kolkata a memorable event.

The BCCI has a plan to felicitate the players at the end of the first day’s match on November 22, Sourav told media in Kolkata recently.