Akshar added to India ODI and T20 squads
India have named their squads for the final two ODIs against the West Indies, as well as for the one-off T20 that follows, and both groups feature spinning all-rounder Akshar Patel.
The Kings XI Punjab spinner was impressive during the IPL and made his ODI debut afterwards, and has played three such matches. He’s only taken one ODI wicket, but was also impressive during the Champions League T20 in September.
Aside from Patel, the BCCI added Manish Pandey to the T20 squad. He is uncapped at international level, but impressed greatly during the IPL. He has played in every edition of the IPL and was the first Indian batsman to score a ton in the tournament.
The ODI series is level at one all, with the third ODI called off due to cyclone HudHud, so the series will be four matches long. As a result, India can no longer regain the number one ranking, even if they win the remaining games.
The selectors also named a Board President’s squad, who will be skippered by Suresh Raina. They will play a warm up game before the Tests, and Rohit Sharma is recovered from his finger injury and is in the squad.
India ODI squad MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, M Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav, Akshar Patel
India T20I squad MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar , Mohammed Shami, Sanju Samson, Manish Pandey, Umesh Yadav
Board President’s squad Suresh Raina (captain), Jiwanjot Singh, KL Rahul, Naman Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Karun Nair, Parvez Rasool, Pankaj Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Jasprit Bumrah, Karn Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav