According to a BCCI source on Friday, the national selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar will most likely choose the same teams for both the major ICC T20 World Cup and the five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
Although the tournament schedule is yet to be released, the 20-team event is tentatively slated to begin on February 7.
Teams must submit their final 15-member squad one month before the event begins, according to ICC tournament regulations. After the selection committee announces their choices, there will be a deadline for revisions.
The same criteria was in force for the 2024 edition held in the Americas as well, which India won under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. The final series prior to the T20 World Cup is the New Zealand T20I series, which begins on January 21.
“With only 10 T20Is left before the T20 World Cup, you won’t see many changes happening in the squad proper unless someone is ruled out due to any specific injury,” a PTI report quoted a source privy to the development as saying.
“One of the biggest reasons being continuity and the 15 chosen for the series against the Black Caps won’t be tinkered with because of the short turnaround time.”
Nagpur (January 21), Raipur (January 23), Guwahati (January 25), Vizag (January 28), and Trivandrum (January 31) will host the five Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand.
The South Africa T20I series is anticipated to be Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav’s final opportunity to assess a few players prior to the New Zealand series, which will serve as a practice run for the big event.
The selection panel may not want to alter the named squad later on, as it was compelled to do at the Champions Trophy in Dubai earlier this year, even though changes brought on by injuries are uncontrollable.
The initial Champions Trophy squad included Yashasvi Jaiswal, but with Dubai’s conditions in mind and the need for a mystery spinner, Varun Chakravarthy was drafted in during the preceding series against England.
After being selected in the first 15, Jaiswal was later dropped, which didn’t look encouraging.
