Cricket / Bhuvneshwar Kumar Returns After Four Years as India Name T20I Squad for New Zealand Tour

Mumbai, Oct 6: Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has made a surprise return to India's T20I setup after nearly four years, as the BCCI on Tuesday named a 16-member squad for the five-match series against New Zealand later this month.

The experienced seamer's recall, along with the return of spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, emerged as the key talking points from the Shreyas Iyer-led squad announced for the tour.

Bhuvneshwar, 36, last played for India in the T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Adelaide in November 2022. However, consistent performances in the Indian Premier League over the past two seasons have helped him work his way back into national contention.

The seasoned fast bowler picked up 45 wickets across the last two IPL editions for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and played a crucial role in the franchise's title-winning campaigns. His experience and ability to swing the new ball appear to have convinced selectors to hand him another opportunity in the shortest format.

His selection means he will miss the upcoming Hong Kong Sixes tournament, for which he had recently been appointed captain of the Indian squad.

Another notable inclusion is leg-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who returns after recovering from a side strain that sidelined him following the opening T20I against Afghanistan last month. Ravi Bishnoi, who featured in the previous squad, has been omitted.

India's premier pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has not been included in the squad as he is expected to play a significant role during the ODI and Test assignments on the tour.

The T20I series will begin in Christchurch on October 22, with the second match also scheduled at the same venue on October 24. The teams will then travel to Wellington for the third T20I on October 27 before concluding the series with matches in Auckland and Hamilton on October 30 and November 1 respectively.

India A squad Announced

The selectors also announced a 15-member India A squad for three multi-day matches against New Zealand A. Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel will lead the side, while Rishabh Pant's participation remains subject to fitness clearance.

The India A series is expected to provide valuable red-ball preparation ahead of the Test leg of the New Zealand tour, with matches scheduled in Lincoln and Christchurch between October 24 and November 10.

The BCCI is yet to announce the ODI and Test squads for the tour.

Squads:

India’s T20I Squad: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson [WK], Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav.

India A squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Rishabh Pant* [WK], Dhruv Jurel [C] [WK], Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sai Sudarsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar
(IANS)