New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially announced the Indian squad for the upcoming three-match One Day International (ODI) series against England scheduled for this July. The selection marks the high-profile return of veteran stalwarts Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah to the setup, forcing selectors to make several tough calls regarding the final composition. Consecutively, a few prominent names have missed out on selection, including young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was omitted despite smashing a brilliant century in his last ODI appearance against Afghanistan.
Youngster Prince Yadav, who recently made his international debut in Lucknow during the three-match series against Afghanistan, has been dropped for the high-profile English tour alongside all-rounder Harsh Dubey. On a positive note, spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel returns to the side, while Hardik Pandya remains sidelined as he continues his recovery from an injury. In Pandya’s absence, Nitish Kumar Reddy has been fast-tracked to spearhead the pace-bowling all-rounder responsibilities. Additionally, Virat Kohli is currently undergoing final assessment stages and will need to clear a mandatory fitness test, which he is highly likely to take upon arriving in England, to cement his participation.
The official 15-member Indian ODI squad includes Shubman Gill as captain, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, wicketkeepers KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Gurnoor Brar. The seam attack in English conditions will be led by Bumrah, supported by Krishna, Rana, Brar, and Reddy. Notably, Harshit Rana has earned a spot in both the ODI unit and the updated T20I squad for the bilateral series against Ireland later this month, replacing the injured Varun Chakravarthy. The revised T20I squad for the Ireland fixtures features Shreyas Iyer as captain, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, vice-captain Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and Prasidh Krishna.
