Virat Kohli was on Friday officially named captain of India’s One-Day International and Twenty20 International teams after Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down on Wednesday. Kohli’s first series in charge will be against England starting next week.
Yuvraj Singh, 35, will be making a comeback as he was named in both squads. The all-rounder last played for India in an ODI in December 2013, but was in good nick for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy this season. Yuvraj scored 672 runs in five matches, with a highest score of 260. Delhi wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was also included in the T20 squad after a solid first-class season, where he scored 972 runs in eight matches, including a triple century. Dhoni retained his spot as well.
Among the big misses was Ajinkya Rahane, who was dropped from the T20I squad but retained his spot for the ODIs. Mandeep Singh was also excluded from the ODI squad, while Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul were included. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who both sat out of the New Zealand ODI series, were brought back in, while Jayant Yadav missed out. Rohit Sharma was not included in either squad as he is still recovering from an injury sustained in the New Zealand series.
India and England will play three ODIs, followed by as many T20Is. The opening encounter will be held in Pune on January 15, the second in Cuttack on January 19, while the Eden Gardens will play hosts to the third game on January 22. Kanpur, Nagpur and Bengaluru will host the three T20I matches on January 26, January 29 and February 1 respectively.
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