After receiving treatment for a back injury for over six months, Deepak Chahar has rejoined the Indian side in time for the ODI series against Zimbabwe in August. Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav have been added to the team of 15 for the three-match series in Harare, and Rahul Tripathi has received his first ODI call-up. The players that participated in the ODIs in the West Indies, including Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, and Yuzvendra Chahal, have been excluded.
Although there has been no official announcement on the selections or non-selections, it is thought that the BCCI’s policy of rotating its top players takes into account the busy international schedule. The Asia Cup will begin on August 27 in the UAE, barely five days after the final ODI in Zimbabwe. India is currently playing a white-ball series in the West Indies.
After recovering from a hairline fracture in his right wrist that kept him out of the South Africa T20Is at home as well as the white-ball tours of Ireland and England, Kuldeep recently received the all-clear from the NCA medical staff. He is a member of the team competing in the West Indies T20I series right now. Kuldeep’s most recent IPL experience was with Delhi Capitals, where he amassed 21 wickets in 14 games.
Washington, who last represented India in the ODIs against the West Indies, returned to action last month after recovering from a hand injury, and more recently, he has been playing for Lancashire in the County Championship.
Tripathi had received his first call-up to the Indian team in June for the T20Is against Ireland, but he was left off the starting lineup. Tripathi has gained notoriety for his T20 achievements, particularly in the IPL, but he also has a respectable record in the 50-over format. In 43 List A games, he has 1209 runs at an average of 31.00. In five games of the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 199 runs at a 49.75 average.
The series will also be captained by Shikhar Dhawan, who led India in the ODIs against the West Indies, with Rohit Sharma remaining an absentee. Rest has also been given to players like Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Shami.
