The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday (November 9) announced Team India’s 15-man squad for the upcoming home series against New Zealand. With Virat Kohli’s tenure as India’s T20I captain coming to an end with Men in Blue’s exit from the T20 World Cup 2021, Rohit Sharma was named as India’s new T20I captain for the series. Kohli has been rested for the first Test against New Zealand to be played at Green Park in Kanpur from November 25-29.
Rohit Sharma, who has won five IPL titles while leading the Mumbai Indians (MI), was the front-runner to replace Kohli as India’s T20I captain. Rohit’s first assignment as India’s full-time T20I captain will be the upcoming series against New Zealand – where the two teams will play three T20 internationals and two Tests.
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After India’s win over Namibia, Kohli had hinted that Sharma would succeed him as India’s T20I captain. “That’s never going to change. If I can’t do that I will not play anymore. Even when I wasn’t captain before I was always keen to see where the game is going. I’m not going to stand around and do nothing,” Kohli said during the presentation ceremony after India’s facile nine-wicket win in their last match at the T20 World Cup
Expect these developments soon:
* Rohit Sharma to take over as T20 captain.
* Virat Kohli to rest for first Test vs NZ & Rohit to captain team in 1st Test.
* Virat will return for 2nd Test as captain.
* ODI captain to be decided ahead of SA tour.
More 👇🏽 https://t.co/47dxggXIrA— KSR (@KShriniwasRao) November 9, 2021
On winning his last match, Kohli said he felt a sense of relief and added that this was the right time to quit captaincy so that he can manage his workload properly. “As I said it’s been an honour, but things have to be kept in the right perspective.
This was the right time for me to manage my workload. It’s been six-seven years of intense cricket every time we take the field and it takes a lot out of you. It’s been great fun, great bunch of guys and we’ve really performed well as a team,” Kohli said.
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India’s T20I squad for New Zealand series
Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj.
Reuters with additional input by GVS News Desk