ICC T20I rankings: India climbs to second spot
After registering a 2-1 victory over England in the recently concluded T20 series against England, the Indian team climbed to second spot in the ICC T20I rankings. India is behind New Zealand, who are leading by just five points. Star bowler of the series, Yuzvendra Chahal climbed up a whopping 92 places to sit on the 86th position.
With three tests remaining in the India-England test series, BCCI's senior selection committee has named the 16-member squad for the rest of the series. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar made it into the team after recovering from back strain. He was selected after his performance in the Ranji Trophy for Uttar Pradesh. Shikhar Dhawan, who is recovering from a thumb injury, was left out.
This is the squad - Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya.
Gautam Gambhir was released from the Indian team during the Visakhapatnam test after he was selected in the Delhi Ranji team. He made his comeback against New Zealand and was part of Indian team for first two tests against England. After being dropped from the test squad for the remaining series, chances of comeback for the 35-year old cricketer seem really bleak.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel has replaced Wriddhiman Saha for the third test at Mohali against England. Saha had strained his left thigh and has been rested to avoid the injury to aggravate. Parthiv has played 20 tests till now, his last being in the year 2008. He made 683 runs and has 41 catches and eight stumpings to his name.
In the 2016 season, Parthiv had scored 415 runs in eight innings while playing for Gujarat, at an average of 59.28. He also took 16 catches and one stumping in the season.
The national selection committee has named the team for the upcoming ODI and T20 series. The committee also named the squad for the two one-day practice games. Virat Kohli has been officially named the captain of India's limited overs team, while the former captain Mahendra Singh's name has been added in both the squads. Yuvraj Singh has also made a return in the team.
ODI Team - KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(C), MS Dhoni(wk), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav. T20 Team - Virat Kohli(Capt), Dhoni(wk), Mandeep Singh, KL Rahul, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra.
In the latest ICC rankings, Indian captain Virat Kohli continued his position as the number one T20 batsman. Kohli is the only Indian batsman in top-five across all formats with a second position in test and third in ODI rankings.
