Sharma, Shami recalled for T20 tour of NZ
Sharma, Shami recalled for T20 tour of NZ
NEW DELHI: Senior batsman Rohit Sharma and fast bowler Mohammed Shami were recalled to India’s Twenty20 squad for the tour of New Zealand after they were rested for the home series against Sri Lanka.
Sharma and Shami come into the 16-man squad for the five T20 internationals starting on January 24 in Auckland. India will also play three ODIs and two Tests in New Zealand.
Shami joins a pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah who returned for the three Sri Lanka T20s, won 2-0 by India after the first game was rained off.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya remains sidelined after a back operation in October, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said on Sunday, adding that his “rehabilitation process is taking longer than expected”.
Virat Kohli-led India will play three One-Day Internationals against Australia starting Tuesday in Mumbai before flying off to New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Kohli said that his side are ready to play a day-night Test at Australia’s formidable Gabba ground or in Perth when they tour Down Under later this year.
Kohli’s men played their first day-night Test in Kolkata last year, thrashing Bangladesh in just over two days, and are set to take on Australia in a three-match One-Day series starting Tuesday in Mumbai. Australia have pushed for more day-night Tests and face the hosts again later in the year, with a four-match series starting at the Gabba in Brisbane.
India had knocked back overtures to play the format in Adelaide at the end of 2018, but Kohli now appears more at ease with pink ball cricket.
“We played the day-night Test here and were pretty happy with how it went. It’s become a very exciting feature of any Test series, so we are absolutely open to play a day-night Test,” Kohli told reporters in Mumbai.
“We are ready and up for the challenge. Whether it’s Gabba or Perth, doesn’t matter to us. We do have the skill sets as a team now to compete against anyone in the world anywhere. In any format of the game, whether it’s white ball, red ball, pink ball.”
India are looking to sharpen their act ahead of the T20 World Cup in October, and the three ODI matches at home will be a key part of the preparation.
Aaron Finch-led Australia edged out hosts India 3-2 last year after losing the opening two games and Kohli believes a new close-fought battle will be fought this week.
“It is always 3-2, 2-1 kind of series,” Kohli said on the eve of the opening game.“Having played a lot against each other, we know the strengths and weaknesses of either side. So it’s always good and a tough challenge playing Australia purely because of the skill set and mindset they bring on to the field.”
And he warned: “The way they are playing their cricket now after Steve (Smith) and David (Warner) — after ball-tampering bans — have come back, it’s pretty intense.
“They are challenging every team, they are dominating a few teams as well. So I think, we along with Australia are probably the top two sides in the world as far as balance is concerned.”
Kohli said India will need a top performance in every game. “As players we are excited to play a full strength Australia in our conditions, also to test ourselves against the best,” said Kohli.
“In the year of the World Cup as many games as we play together as a team, it’s going to benefit us, especially the white-ball cricket.”
T20 squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur.
Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/598250-sharma-shami-recalled-for-t20-tour-of-nz