NEW DELHI: As reported by TOI on Saturday,
Rohit Sharma will lead India's 15-member squad in the
Nidahas Trophy
T20 tri-series starting March 6 in Sri Lanka. Top stars like
Virat Kohli, MS
Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and
Hardik Pandya have been given rest for the event while
Shikhar Dhawan has been named the vice-captain. Bangladesh are the third team in the event.
Rohit led India during the final T20I against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday after skipper Kohli reported unfit for the game. He had also captained India successfully in ODIs and T20s against Sri Lanka in December last at home. "MS Dhoni was not available for selection as he had requested for rest. We've kept in mind the workload and upcoming schedule while finalizing the team for Nidahas Trophy. Our high-performance unit has suggested that adequate rest should be given to our fast bowlers to help improve performance and prevent injury," senior selection committee chairman MSK Prasad said.
In Dhoni's absence, the wicketkeeping slot will be a toss up between Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant who are in the squad while Tamil Nadu all-rounder
Vijay Shankar is likely to fill in for Pandya. Baroda batsman
Deepak Hooda and Hyderabad fast bowler
Mohammed Siraj have also been named in the squad.
Karnataka batsman
Mayanak Agarwal
, who has scored more than 2,000 runs in various formats in the ongoing domestic season, did not find a place.
SQUAD: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant (wk).
Out: Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav In: Washington Sundar, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Siraj, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant