Hardik Pandya Named Skipper for Ireland T20Is; Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson Included
All-rounder Hardik Pandya has been named skipper of India for the upcoming two T20Is against Ireland while Bhuvaneshwar Kumar will be his deputy. The squad also sees the inclusion of Rahul Tripathi for the first time while Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson also return to India’s middle order. India are set to play two T20Is in Ireland after which they will travel to the neighboring England where they will play three T20Is. The series will not see KL Rahul who has already been ruled out from the lone Test match to be played in Edgbaston.
Pandya got the promotion as Rishabh Pant, who is currently leading the T20 side, will join the Indian Test squad in UK only after the South Africa series. All the players, except Pant, are leaving for England early Thursday for the July 1-5 contest, notable being skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
Meanwhile Pandya’s stint as Gujarat Titans skipper, where he led the team to maiden IPL title, seems didn’t go unnoticed.
It has been decided that Pant will not be playing the two T20 Internationals against Ireland and hence Hardik, who is his deputy for the South Africa series, is expected to lead the side.
The only new face in the side is Maharashtra right-hand batter Rahul Tripathi, who was rewarded for his stellar batting during this edition of IPL where he scored more than 400 runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Pandya, who is Rishabh Pant’s deputy in the current T20I series against South Africa, was elevated to the leadership role and will join the Test squad in England after the completion of the home series.
Sanju Samson, whose profligacy has been well documented over the years, gets another shot at redemption, as he made a comeback for the series, having guided Rajasthan Royals to the IPL final.
Full Squad: Hardik Pandya (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vc), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
