Tewatia & Ishan Kishan earn maiden India call up as BCCI announces squad for T20s vs Eng

Ahead of the 5-match T20 series against England, the BCCI on Saturday announced a power-packed 19-men squad led by skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma. After being ruled out of the Australia tour due to injury, IPL 2020 star Varun Chakravarthy has earned his maiden call-up for the national team. The BCCI has also called up Rahul Tewatia, who left his mark on IPL 2020, with some stellar show of power-hitting as he represented the Rajasthan Royals. 

Jasprit Bumrah rested

Veteran speedster Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has also been included in the T20 squad after being sidelined for months due to injury. The pacer had sustained an injury during the IPL 2020 in UAE and had to pull out of the cash-rich tournament mid-way. The squad includes several players who had a brilliant IPL 2020 as Mumbai Indians' Suryakumar Yadav has also received his maiden India call up. Ishan Kishan, who gave a blistering audition on Saturday morning itself as he led Jharkhand to a massive victory in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, has also been included. Notably, pace spearhead Jasprit bumrah has been rested for the T20 series against England which begins on March 12.

The pace batter comprises Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur. Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Varun Chakravarthy will be heading the spin department. Meanwhile, the dream run for T Natarajan continues as the Tamil nadu speedster has also been included in the squad after an impressive series against Australia. 

Here is the full squad: 

Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, W Sundar, R Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep, Shardul Thakur.

India-England T20 series

After having locked horns in the Tests which are currently underway, India and England will square off in the shortest format of the game. The 5-match T20 series assumes great significance with the T20 World Cup scheduled for later this year in India. The T20 series will begin on March 12 and subsequent matches will be played with a gap of two days. All the five matches will be played at the grand Motera stadium in Ahmedabad. While there is no official announcement yet, crowds are expected to be allowed in the Motera for the matches as they have been allowed for the two Tests there. England is yet to announce its squad for the T20 series.