The BCCI announced the Indian squad for the two-match T20I series in Ireland, which included some notable inclusions and exclusions.
The Indian squad for the upcoming Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Ireland was announced on Wednesday. With the Indian Test team simultaneously playing practice matches in England, India needed to send a completely different team to Ireland. New captain Hardik Pandya will lead the side, while veteran seamer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar will be the vice-captain. Notable inclusions in the group were Rahul Tripathi, who earned his first national team call-up following impressive performances in the IPL 2022 and domestic circuit, and Sanju Samson, who regained his place after missing out on the T20I series against South Africa.
Thank you so much 🙏
— Rahul Tripathi (@tripathirahul52)Former players and fans were seemingly delighted about the Inclusion of Rahul Tripathi. About the inclusion of Tripathi and Samson, West Indian great Ian Bishop tweeted, "So Happy for Rahul Tripathi, man. Well deserved. I Hope Samson makes the best use of this outing. Something special about his batting."
So happy to see Rahul Tripathi’s name in the Indian team. Congratulations buddy.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan)ALSO READ: India vs England 2022 - KL Rahul likely to miss entire tour; will treat groin injury abroad
So good to see Rahul Tripathi’s name in the Indian squad…well deserved👏👏👏…
— parthiv patel (@parthiv9)Former Indian players Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, and Parthiv Patel were also delighted with Tripathi's maiden national team call-up. Another major success story from the squad announcement was Hardik Pandya being appointed captain. The all-rounder, who was not part of the Indian team for just three months, will now be captaining his country for the first time following an impressive IPL 3033 campaign as captain and a good series against South Africa.
Expectations hurts 😒😒
— Rahul Tewatia (@rahultewatia02)One player who was left disappointed with the current selection was Pandya's Gujarat Titans (GT) teammate Rahul Tewatia. Tewatia enjoyed a brilliant IPL 2022 with the bat, as he scored 217 runs at a strike rate of nearly 150, operating as the finisher for the eventual champion. Tewatia, who has been included in previous Indian squads, could consider himself unlucky to miss out on a call-up on this occasion.