Squad for West Indies series to be picked on THIS date

After getting knocked out of 2019 World Cup, the men-in-blue are set to travel West Indies for a full bilateral series which is scheduled to begin on August 3. The sudden semi-final exit have led the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to look for some answers from the skipper and management. It is reported that Virat Kohli along with the head coach Ravi Shastri will meet Committee of Administration (CoA) to discuss World Cup stint.

Further, the Indian selectors will meet on Friday, 19 July to pick the squad for the Windies tour and since the limited-overs series is scheduled before the Tests, the Dhoni question will have to be answered soon enough. Although sources close to the BCCI recently indicated that the former India captain MS Dhoni will not be an automatic choice again and is less likely to board the Caribbeans-bound flight but yet there is no finality on that issue.

The first two T20Is will be played at Lauderhill in Florida, United States, and the first match is scheduled on August 3.

“The selectors will meet in Mumbai on July 19. We have not heard from Dhoni but what is relevant is the communication between the player and selectors. If you ask me, Dhoni did well in the World Cup but he is his own man. Only he can decide whether he wants to carry on or not,” India Today cited reports quoting a BCCI official as saying following after the Committee of Administrators’ meeting in New Delhi.

It is reported that Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are likely to miss the limited overs series and return during the Tests which starts from August 22. The two Test-series will be a part of the inaugural Test Championship. There are also contradictory reports that Kohli might as well play the full tour after a disappointing conclusion to the World Cup campaign.

With this, BCCI may well be tempted to try some new faces which eventually gives them a chance to build the squad for 2023 World Cup. It is highly likely that Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, and Khaleel Ahmed will find their name into the squad in place of Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, and Jasprit Bumrah. Kedar and Dinesh had a forgettable run during the course of the tournament which makes their selection case weak. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• India will tour West Indies for full series. 
• Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are likely to miss the limited overs series. 
• New Zealand upstaged India in World Cup semi-final.