Tilak Varma only new face in Indian T20I squad for Windies series, Bishnoi, Avesh Khan make comeback
New Delhi, Jul 5: Talented Mumbai Indians left-hander Tilak Varma was the only new face in an otherwise tried and tested Indian T20 squad led by Hardik Pandya, which will play five T20 Internationals against the West Indies, starting August 3 in Trinidad.
Senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have not been picked once again, an indication that they have been phased out of the shortest format of the game.
The Hyderabad left-hander has been a notable member of the Mumbai Indians side for the past two seasons and with a strike-rate of 142-plus in 47 games, batting at No 5 has obviously attracted the national selection panel's, led by Ajit Agarkar, attention.
While KKR left-hander Rinku Singh has missed out, it was more about not having a slot at the same position, considering there will be Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson also in the middle-order.
Two players who have made international comebacks are pacer Avesh Khan and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.
The team has three wrist spinners with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal also being part of the 15-member squad.
India's T20I squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
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'War no solution, terrorists must be hunted down': Raj Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said war was not a solution to the problem of terrorism, and the government should give priority to finding the perpetrators of terror attacks.
On a day Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, he said the government must be questioned about why a terror attack could take place in Pahalgam in the first place.
"War is no answer to a terrorist attack. In the US, they (terrorists) toppled the Twin Towers, attacked the Pentagon. The US did not wage a war. They killed those terrorists," said the MNS chief, speaking to reporters here.
"You have not found the terrorists who attacked (tourists in Pahalgam). Why there was no security in a place where thousands of tourists are going for the last many years? It is more important to carry out a combing operation inside our country and find them out. The airstrike, distracting people....this, war can not be the solution," he added.
Instead of Wednesday's planned mock drill of Civil Defence, a "combing operation" should be carried out all over the country, Thackeray further said.
Criticizing what he called a misplaced show of strength, Thackeray said, "There seems to be a desire to create a war-like situation in another country. Now we see mock drills and sirens (going off). But we need to ask the fundamental question, why did this (attack in Pahalgam on April 22 in which 26 civilians were killed) happen in the first place?"
He also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his itinerary in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. "The prime minister was in Saudi Arabia when this (terror attack) happened, and he returned early, only to go to Bihar for campaigning. That was not necessary. He went to Kerala for the inauguration of Adani's port and later came to Mumbai for the WAVES function. If the situation was so grave, all this could have been avoided," said the MNS chief who had backed Modi during the 2024 general elections.
The government's failures need to be pointed out, Thackeray said, adding the country does not need a symbolic response. "Find the terrorists, dismantle their networks, and tackle the drug menace that is spreading through our streets," he said.
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