MS Dhoni To Lead Team in Zimbabwe Series, Virat Kohli Rested

MS Dhoni will lead the Indian team for the Zimbabwe tour starting on June 11. The squad was announced during the meeting of the selection meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

#TeamIndia for #ZimvInd ODIs and T20Is @msdhoni to lead the 16-member team pic.twitter.com/zxOP1GS7Dr

- BCCI (@BCCI) May 23, 2016

#TeamIndia for #WIvInd Tests - @imVkohli to lead 17-member team pic.twitter.com/55oSfwp25R

- BCCI (@BCCI) May 23, 2016

Virat Kohli, who has smashed four hundreds in the 2016 Indian Premier League, has been rested along with Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane. The squad includes Yuzvendra Chahal, who is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 19 wickets for Royal Challengers.

Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur was the lone new face in India's Test squad for the tour of West Indies, while a second-string team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni was picked by the selectors for the limited-overs series in Zimbabwe.

The 24-year-old right-arm medium pacer was a surprise pick in the 17-member squad with the selectors reposing their faith in the line-up that had played the last Test series against South Africa at home.

Thakur was rewarded for his consistent performance in the domestic cricket where he took 41 wickets in 11 matches for Mumbai at an average of 24.51. His best figures in an innings were six for 107.

Varun Aaron, who was part of the team during the series against South Africa, was dropped with a fit-again Mohammed Shami returning to the squad which will have Ajinkya Rahane as its new vice-captain.

All-rounder Stuart Binny retained his place in the team announced by new BCCI Secretary Ajay Shirke following a meeting of the selection committee here.

The team, to be led by Virat Kohli, also had no place for veterans such as Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh despite their decent performances in the ongoing Indian Premier League. The tour of West Indies comprises four Tests in mid-July but the exact dates for the series are yet to be formalised.

"No one has been rested. No one wrote to BCCI or called us (to say) they were not available or they should be rested. It was the decision of the selection committee to pick a young side for Zimbabwe and another side for West Indies," selection panel head Sandeep Patil told reporters.

Kohli has been rested from the limited-overs series against Zimbabwe, scheduled from June 11 to 22, along with Murali Vijay and Ashish Nehra, who is due to undergo a surgery.

The selectors have opted to pick a completely new-look team for the tour of Zimbabwe with Vidharbha left-handed opener Faiz Fazal, off-spinner Jayant Yadav, Punjab middle-order batsman Mandeep Singh and IPL star Yuzvendra Chahal being the uncapped players in the side.

Chahal is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing Indian Premier League with 19 wickets while Faiz Fazal, who smashed 127 in the Irani Trophy to help Rest of India chase down a record score of 482 against Ranji champions Mumbai.

India Squad For Zimbabwe ODI and T20I series:

MS Dhoni (c), KL Rahul, Faiz Fazal, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair,  Ambati Rayudu, Rishi Dhawan, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaspreet Bumrah, Barinder Sran, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Jaydev Unadkat, Yuzvendra Chahal

India Test Squad For West Indies Tour:

Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Stuart Binny