Sharma back, Samson dropped from T20 squad for NZ tour

Indian selectors on Sunday recalled explosive batsman Rohit Sharma to their Twenty20 squad for the five-match series on their tour of New Zealand starting on January 24.

Vice-captain Sharma, rested for the home series against Sri Lanka, comes into the 16-member squad in place of wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement.

Rishabh Pant will don the gloves in the month-long tour in which the visitors will also play three one-day internationals (ODIs) and two test matches.

Read more: 'India capable of winning any tournament they play'

Pace bowler Mohammed Shami also makes a comeback after being rested for the Sri Lanka series, which India won 2-0, but all-rounder Hardik Pandya was not included as he continues his recovery after having lower back surgery in October.

“Vijay Shankar has been included in the India ‘A’ squad for New Zealand since Pandya’s rehabilitation process is taking longer than expected,” the BCCI added.

Also read: Rashid Latif urges BCCI President Saurav Ganguly to help rekindle Pak-India bilateral ties

India will host Australia in three ODIs this month before departing for New Zealand.

T20 squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur.