NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma will return to lead India in the upcoming limited-overs series against West Indies after recovering from his hamstring injury, as the country’s cricket board named the squad on Wednesday.

Rohit, who was recently appointed white-ball captain, missed the team’s tour of South Africa and KL Rahul stood in as captain in the three One-day Internationals which the tourists lost.

India announced 18-man squads for three ODI and three T20I matches starting on Feb 6, with the first ODI in Ahmedabad.

Vice-captain Rahul will join the team from the second ODI while fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested.

Ravindra Jadeja will miss the series as he is undergoing the final stage of recovery from his knee injury, the BCCI said.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav returns to the ODI squad after last playing for the national team in July last year.

Recently the BCCI revised the venues for the series, hosting the ODI games in Ahmedabad on Feb 6, 9 and 11. All these games are part of the 2023 50-over World Cup Super League. The T20s will be played in Kolkata on Feb 16, 18 and 20.

India are yet to name their new Test captain after Virat Kohli, who remains an integral part of the team across formats, stepped down from the job following the team’s 2-1 loss in South Africa.

WI RECALL ROACH

Also on Wednesday, West Indies handed a recall to experienced seam bowler Kemar Roach as they named their ODI squad for the series in India.

The 33-year-old Roach has taken 365 international wickets, including 124 in ODIs, but has not played an ODI since 2019.

“Kemar Roach is one of our leading fast bowlers and we believe we need bowlers up front to get early wickets, and Kemar, with an economy rate of five, is certainly good enough to play,” said West Indies lead selector Desmond Haynes. There were also recalls for batsman Nkrumah Bonner, whose last of three ODI caps came last January, and opener Brandon King.

Bonner has become a regular in the Test side, but has featured little in white-ball international cricket.

“Over the last few years, Nkrumah Bonner’s cricket has come on leaps and bounds and we believe he should be given an opportunity to play in the 50-over format,” said Haynes.

Squads:

INDIA:

ODI: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan

T20: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel

WEST INDIES: Kieron Pollard (captain), Fabian Allen, Nkrumah Bonner, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2022