Versatile batter KL Rahul, who recently underwent a surgery for sports hernia, and left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav have been picked in the 18-man squad, but their participation is subject to fitness. Kuldeep had suffered a hand injury in the home T20I series against South Africa in June. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has made a comeback into the T20I squad, having last played an international match in the shortest format in November 2021. Kohli, who is struggling for form, had asked for rest from the entire white-ball tour that comprises three ODIs and five T20Is. The tour begins on July 22 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Experienced leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has also been given rest while lead pacer Bumrah will not be part of the Caribbean and the United States tour. Skipper Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, who will not be involved in the preceding ODI series, will return for the T20Is. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi has retained his place in the T20I side and so has pacer Avesh Khan. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who was not part of the full-strength squad against England in the final two T20Is, is back in the mix. From the squad that won the series in England, Umran Malik has been dropped.
