Hardik Pandya to lead India in T20I series against Ireland; Rahul Tripathi makes the cut
With KL Rahul suffering an injury, the Indian team will be led by Hardik, while Raul Tripathi has also made the cut.
Published : Jun 15, 2022 20:39 IST
Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian team for the two-match T20I series against Ireland. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) senior selection committee on Wednesday announced a 17-member squad, which features Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson, who has been returning to the squad after a while.
With KL Rahul suffering an injury, the team will be led by Hardik, who guided the Gujarat Titans to victory in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League. In the ongoing series against South Africa, Hardik has served as Rishabh Pant's deputy and now that he has elevated as the captain, the seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar will serve as the vice-captain in Ireland.
Both Samson and Tripathi had prolific seasons with the bat in IPL 2022, with Samson scoring 374 runs, while Tripathi scored 413 runs. Suryakumar Yadav also returned to the squad after an injury lay-off. India will play the two T20Is at Malahide on June 26 and 28, and with Rahul Dravid busy with the Indian Test team in England, VVS Laxman will serve as the head coach on tour and will be assisted by Shitanshu Kotak (batting coach), Sairaj Bahutule (bowling coach) and Munish Bali (fielding coach).
The squad: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.