Pant, Yadav in India team for Windies tour

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Stumper-batsman Rishabh Pant and left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav were named in India’s limited-overs squad on Thursday for the team’s tour of West Indies later this month.

Pant, 19, could not make the India team for the ongoing Champions Trophy as the selectors preferred experience over youth, but has long been identified as a prospect because of his aggressive batting.

Spinner Yadav, 22, impressed on his test debut against Australia in March, claiming 4-68 in the first innings to help India win the four-match series 2-1.

The Indian board said the “administrative staff” of the team would continue. That means coach Anil Kumble, whose original contract expires with the Champions Trophy, will stay on the job while the board determines whether to give him an extension or find a new coach.

Beginning on June 23 at the Queen’s Park Oval, India play five one-dayers against West Indies followed by a solitary Twenty20 International on July 9 at Jamaica’s Sabina Park.

Team: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and Dinesh Karthik.

Rishabh Pant