On Wednesday, BCCI announced an 18-member squad for the upcoming West Indies series. The series consists of 3 ODIs and T20Is and will kickstart from February 6. Former cricketer, Yuvraj Singh gave his verdict on the Indian squad.

Team India had a problem in the middle order which was pointed out by head coach Rahul Dravid after the team’s whitewash in South Africa. 

With Team India looking balance in the XI after trying Venkatesh Iyer as an all-rounder, Deepak Hooda has been included in the ODI squad. Although he was underwhelming in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Hooda showed an impressive performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, scoring 294 runs at a strike rate of 168.

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Kuldeep has been picked in the ODI squad after July 2021 where he was last picked in the limited over series against Sri Lanka. This shows that India will go back to their spin-duo Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the middle overs. The duo proved to be wonderful for India back in 2017 and 2019.

Ruturaj Gaikwad retained his place in the India squad for West Indies ODIs and will hope to get a game after warming the bench in South Africa. Washington Sundar will also be making his comeback in both formats after a long break owing to a finger injury.

Taking to Twitter, Yuvraj congratulated 4 players on their selection – Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Deepak Hooda and Ruturaj Gaikwad – in the squad.

“Nice to see @imkuldeep18, @Sundarwashi5, @Deepakhooda54 and Ruturaj’s name in the squad much deserved! @BCCI,” he tweeted.