All-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead a 17-member India squad named by the selection committee to take on Ireland in two T20Is later this month.
Recently, Hardik was elevated to vice-captaincy and also served as Rishabh Pant’s deputy in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa at home after original captain KL Rahul was ruled out with a groin injury.
Hardik’s way of captaincy earned a lot of praise after he led newly-inducted Gujarat Titans to IPL triumph in the recently held season of the cash-rich league.
Meanwhile, batter Rahul Tripathi earned a maiden call-up while the 17-member India squad will also witness the return of Sanju Samson.
On the other hand, reports suggested that former India cricketer Sairaj Bahutule, National Cricket Academy (NCA) coaches Sitanshu Kotak and Munish Bali will be part of VVS Laxman’s support staff during Ireland T20Is, starting June 26.
As per a report in Cricbuzz, former left-handed batsman from Saurashtra Kotak will handle the batting while Bahutule and Bali will handle the bowling and fielding respectively.
Kotak has previously been part of the India A coaching setup while Bahutule and Bali were part of the coaching staff at India’s victorious Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Laxman will take charge of the tour, the squad for which is still be to announced, with Rahul Dravid coaching the charges simultaneously in England where they’ll prepare and play the rescheduled fifth Test of the series at Edgbaston from July 1. That’ll be followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is to round off a quick tour.
India’s Test squad is scheduled to fly out to England on June 15 with the trio of Kotak, Bahutule and Bali already joining the T20I squad on the ongoing series against South Africa.
Significantly, the Men in Blue is scheduled to play two T20Is against the hosts at Malahide on June 26 and 28.
India Squad:
Hardik Pandya (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda,