Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his much-awaited return as the selection panel led by MSK Prasad announced the squad for the West Indies series. Bhuvneshwar had been out from competitive cricket right since the tour of West Indies after World Cup. There was no official word on his fitness but as per reports, Bhuvneshwar was suffering from a back issue.
He recently practised with the Indian team ahead of the Indore Test and also played two matches for Uttar Pradesh in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, thus proving his match fitness to be available for selection.
Shivam Dube, who made his T20I debut against Bangladesh, has been handed maiden ODI call-up in the absence of Hardik Pandya. In three T20Is, Dube has scored 10 runs and has scalped three wickets, with all the scalps coming in the final T20I at crucial stages.
Deepak Chahar made his return to the ODI team after more than a year. He was one of the players who flew for Asia Cup as replacement. The right-arm pacer made his debut when India rested five players for the Afghanistan tie and went for 37 runs in four overs.
There were not many surprises in the squad as the likes of KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and others retained their spots. Kedar Jadhav also kept his place in the team.
Team India’s white-ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma was expected to be rested for the series but there was no rest for him. It will mean that KL Rahul might again sit out of playing XI, with Shreyas Iyer having locked his spot at four spot
The three ODIs will be played on December 15, 18 and 22 in Chennai, Vizag and Cuttack, respectively. Ahead of the ODIs, both the teams will play three T20Is.