India Test opener Mayank Agarwal is buzzed about Rohit Sharma’s appointment as the new T20I skipper.
Virat Kohli has stepped down from T20I captaincy to manage his workload; the upcoming New Zealand series will be the first assignment for Rohit Sharma as India’s full-time T20I captain.
Mayank Agarwal, who has previously opened with Rohit Sharma in Test cricket, said that he is excited to see Indian cricket flourish further under the 5-time IPL winning skipper.
”We’re all excited about what will happen in Indian cricket under Rohit Sharma going forward. He has done exceedingly well for his franchise and has won lots of IPL trophies as a captain for Mumbai Indians. And we are all excited to see what’s in store for us in Indian cricket now going ahead,” Agarwal said in an interview with Wion.
Agarwal, who was benched in England, is likely to come back to the opening position to partner his friend KL Rahul in India’s eleven with Rohit Sharma being rested for the 2-Test series against the Black Caps. Shubman Gill is also in contention for an opening spot.
Virat Kohli rested for first Test, Rohit Sharma rested from both Tests vs New Zealand
Keeping their workload in mind skipper Virat Kohli has been rested from the first Test. Ajinkya Rahane has been confirmed to captain the side with Cheteshwar Pujara named his deputy.
Rohit Sharma, who will lead the side in the T20I series, has been rested from both the Tests. After the conclusion of the New Zealand Tests, India will fly out to South Africa for an all-format tour.
Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are other all-format players who have been given a rest from the entire Test series against the Kiwis.
The three T20Is will be played in Jaipur (November 17), Ranchi (November 19) and Kolkata (November 21), followed by Tests in Kanpur (November 25-29) and Mumbai (December 3-7).
India’s Test squad:
Ajinkya Rahane (C), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vc), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Md. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Virat Kohli will join the squad for the second Test and will lead the team.