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Rohit returns to lead white-ball squads for England series; Hardik back for ODIs

Malik and Hooda retain their place in T20I squad; Dhawan and Jadeja slotted in for the ODI series

Shashank Kishore
Shashank Kishore
30-Jun-2022
Rohit Sharma will take back the captaincy from Hardik Pandya, who led India in the T20Is against Ireland  •  BCCI

Rohit Sharma will take back the captaincy from Hardik Pandya, who led India in the T20Is against Ireland  •  BCCI

Rohit Sharma will lead India in the upcoming limited-overs leg of the England tour. He takes back the mantle from Hardik Pandya, who led India in the two T20Is in Ireland.
Rohit's absence from the Edgbaston Test - due to Covid-19 - gives him enough time to recover and rejoin the T20I squad ahead of the series opener in Southampton on July 7.
Had he been available for the Test, his participation in the T20I opener may have been touch and go, given it begins less than 48 hours after the scheduled completion of the fifth Test, which will complate the series that was postponed in the wake of covid cases in the Indian camp last September.
Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, all of whom are part of the Test squad, will rejoin the white-ball setup for the second and third T20I.
This means there is no place for Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Venkatesh Iyer and the uncapped duo of Rahul Tripathi and Arshdeep Singh - who are all part of the T20I series opener - in India's full-strength squad for the remainder of the T20I series.
In what is perhaps a sign of continuity building up to the T20 World Cup this October in Australia, the selectors have left out Mohammed Shami from the squad for the shortest format. Shami was the highest wicket-taker for IPL 2022 champions Gujarat Titans. He also featured in every single match of the tournament, picking up 20 wickets at an economy of 8.00 and an average of 24.40.
Fast bowler Umran Malik, who made his debut in Ireland, retained his place, as did allrounder Deepak Hooda, who impressed with a match-winning hundred in the second T20I against Ireland.
Meanwhile, Arshdeep earned a maiden ODI call-up for the three-match series, which will also have Shikhar Dhawan slot back in to possibly open with Rohit. The series also marks Hardik's return to India's 50-over squad for the first time since the tour of Sri Lanka in July 2021.
There was also a recall for Shardul Thakur, who didn't play a part in the home series against West Indies in February, and Axar Patel, who last played an ODI in 2017.
Axar replaces the injured Washington Sundar from India's previous ODI squad. Washington, who is in his final stages of recovery from a hand injury could possibly return to competitive cricket later in July for Lancashire subject to fitness and visa clearance.
Kuldeep Yadav and Deepak Chahar, who were part of India's previous ODI squad, miss out due to injuries. Both players are currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Jadeja, meanwhile, is in line to play his first ODI in over 18 months after being included in the squad for the 50-overs format.
India's squad for 1st T20I: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
India's squad for 2nd and 3rd T20I: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik
India's squad for ODIs: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh

Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo