Rohit Sharma has been appointed India’s Test captain, starting with the forthcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka. The national selection panel has dropped veterans Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha in a bid to try out younger faces.
Chetan Sharma, the chairman of the national selection panel, stressed that Rohit has been handed a dual task of leading the team and nurturing leadership within the group with an eye on future.
“He was the clear choice for us. We want to create leadership under him. As long as Rohit is fit and available, he will be the Test captain. We will give him rest whenever he or the team management or the medical staff gives us a directive,” Sharma said in a media conference while announcing India’s squad for three T20Is and two Tests versus Sri Lanka starting February 24.
“K.L. (Rahul), Bumrah and Rishabh have all worked as vice-captains recently, so we want Rohit to groom them as leaders.”
While R. Ashwin has been included subject to fitness test, Sharma added that K.L. Rahul and Washington Sundar will be unavailable for the series after hurting themselves during the ODI series versus West Indies. Shardul Thakur has been rested, while Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja have been recalled after proving their fitness. With Axar Patel likely to be available for the second Test, Saurabh Kumar, the Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner, is the lone new face in the Test squad.
The big talking point, however, was the omission of veterans Rahane, Pujara, Ishant and Saha who have been regulars in the Test set-up for over a decade.
Sharma said on behalf of the selection panel, he had a discussion with each of them just after the series in South Africa, adding that the door will always be open for them in future.
“We had told them that they will not be considered for these two Tests and the door will remain open for them in future,” Sharma said. “We want them to see them perform in Ranji Trophy and we had asked them to ply their trade in the tournament.”
While Pujara and Rahane are participating in the Ranji Trophy, Ishant and Saha made themselves unavailable for the tournament. ”The national selectors do not interfere in any state’s selection policies, so you will have to check with the players or their respective state associations about the absence,” Sharma said.
The squads:
T20I: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Jasprit Bumrah (Vice-capt.), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (w.k.), Ishan Kishan (w.k.), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan.
Test: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Jasprit Bumrah (Vice-capt.), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishab Pant (w.k.), K.S. Bharat (w.k.), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, R. Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami.
The itinerary:
T20Is: February 24 (Lucknow), February 26, February 27 (Dharamsala).
First Test: March 4-8 (Mohali); Second Test (D/N): March 12-16 (Bengaluru).
