Rohit Sharma has been appointed India’s Test captain, starting with the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka. The national selection panel, meanwhile, 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 had been handed the dual task of leading the team and nurturing leadership within the group with an eye on the future.
Creating leadership
“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 at a media conference while announcing India’s squad for the three T20Is and two Tests versus Sri Lanka starting on February 24.
“K.L. (Rahul), Bumrah and Rishab have all worked as vice-captains, so we want Rohit to groom them as leaders.”
While R. Ashwin has been included subject to passing a fitness test, Chetan added that Rahul and Washington Sundar would be unavailable for the series after hurting themselves during the ODI series versus West Indies.
Lone new face
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 Rahane, Pujara, Ishant and Saha who have been regulars in the Test set-up for over a decade.
Kept them in the loop
Chetan said, he had had discussions with each of them just after the South Africa series, adding that the door would always be open for them.
“We had told them that they would not be considered for these two Tests and that the door would remain open for them in future,” Chetan said. “We want to see them perform in the Ranji Trophy and have asked them to play in the tournament.”
While Pujara and Rahane are participating in the Ranji Trophy, Ishant and Saha are not. ”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,” he said.
The squads:
T20I: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Jasprit Bumrah (Vice-Capt.), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan.
Test: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Jasprit Bumrah (Vice-Capt.), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishab Pant (wk), K.S. Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, R. Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami.
The itinerary:
T20Is: February 24 (Lucknow), February 26, February 27 (Dharamshala).
First Test: March 4-8 (Mohali); Second Test (D/N): March 12-16 (Bengaluru).
