Hardik Pandya appointed India captain for Ireland T20Is; Bhuvneshwar to be his deputy

In latest development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has released the squad for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland. Hardik Pandya has been named as the captain after the Gujarat Titans skipper brilliantly led the franchise to its maiden IPL title in its debut season earlier this year. Meanwhile, an in-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named as his deputy.

BCCI releases Indian squad for Ireland T20I series

The selectors have made several changes to the T20I team that is currently facing South Africa in a five-match series. Rishabh Pant, who was named the skipper of the side against the Proteas, has been given a rest, with the final Test match against England in mind. Instead, they have decided to choose Hardik Pandya as captain after seeing how well he led the Gujarat Titans in the recently concluded IPL season.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is currently having an outstanding T20I series against South Africa, has been named as Hardik's deputy. Even though the Men in Blue currently trail the Proteas 2-1 in the ongoing T20I series, Bhuvneshwar has been one of the few good performers in the team with six wickets to his name after the first three matches.

With Pant not having been selected, Sanju Samson has been called up to the squad as the replacement. Another major change in the squad has been the inclusion of Rahul Tripathi, who was extremely impressive with the SunRisers Hyderabad in the recently concluded IPL season. The 31-year-old smacked 413 runs in just 14 innings, at a decent average of 37.55.

Here's the Team India squad to face Ireland:

Hardik Pandya (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (VC), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.