Rohit to lead India in T20 series against NZ, Rahul named deputy

Opener Rohit Sharma will succeed Virat Kohli as India's Twenty20 captain when they take on New Zealand in a three-match Twenty20 series at home this month as the country's cricket board (BCCI) announced a 16-man squad on Tuesday.

Fellow opener KL Rahul has been named Rohit's deputy.

Kohli had stepped down as captain in the run-up to the T20 World Cup, where India failed to make the semi-finals following two early losses to Pakistan and New Zealand.

Kohli has been rested against the Kiwis along with pacemen Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

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The selectors have made a number of changes to the squad that featured in the United Arab Emirates, bringing in the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel, while dropping all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

The first T20 is scheduled for Jaipur on November 17 followed by games in Ranchi on November 19 and Kolkata on November 21.

Squad:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj