Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya and Chennai Super Kings medium pacer Deepak Chahar on Sunday (1st July) earned their maiden India call after star pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar were ruled out of the T20I series. The three-match T20I series involving India and England will start on Tuesday (3rd July), the first match of the tournament will be played at the Old Trafford, Manchester.
While Krunal and Deepak were included just for the T20 series, left-arm spinner Axar Patel has been named as Washington’s replacement for the three-match ODI series that starts at Nottingham on July 12.
Incidentally, Krunal and his brother Hardik Pandya will be the third set of brothers to represent India after Mohinder Amarnath and Surinder Amarnath and Pathan brothers Irfan and Yusuf.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Krunal Pandya as Washington Sundar’s replacement in India’s T20I side and Axar Patel in the ODI side for the upcoming limited-overs series against England,” BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a statement.
Sundar has been ruled out of the entire limited overs series against England after injuring his right ankle during Indian team’s training session at the Malahide Cricket Club, Dublin on June 26.
Bumrah, on the other hand, has a fractured left thumb and has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against England. He suffered the injury during India’s first T20I against Ireland.
Krunal has been rewarded for his consistent performances for Mumbai Indians in the last two editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), while Chahar got rewarded for his good performance in the domestic tournaments and the ongoing India A team’s tour of England.
Chahar is currently playing for India A squad in England in the 50-over tri-series, featuring England Lions and West Indies A.
After three games in the series, Chahar was on top of India’s wicket-taking chart, with seven scalps at 12.71 and an economy rate of 4.04.
Chahar came into the limelight following his good show with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) where he picked up 10 wickets in 12 games and was also their second-most economical bowler (economy rate: 7.28).
Meanwhile, the selectors have also included Rishabh Pant in India A squad for the four-day matches. Currently a member of the India A squad for the one-day games, Pant will continue to be with the side for the longer format too.
India’s squad for T20Is against England: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav
India A squad for four-day matches: Karun Nair (captain), R Samarth, Mayank Agarwal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari, Ankit Bawne, Vijay Shankar, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Jayant Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Rajneesh Gurbani, Rishabh Pant.
-With PTI inputs.