India T20I squad for New Zealand tour: Rohit Sharma returns, no place for Sanju Samson

IND vs NZ: Team India are scheduled to play five T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests against Kiwis starting January 24.

India vice-captain Rohit Sharma returns to T20I squad, the BCCI announced on Sunday. The right-handed batsman, who was dropped from the recently-concluded T20I series against Sri Lanka, was included in the side in place of wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson. Rohit last played for India in the shortest format against West Indies in December, where he had scored 94 runs in three matches at an average of 31.33 and a strike rate of 151.61.

Indian Rohit Sharma attends a training session. (AP)

He was rested for the Sri Lanka series, but was included in the squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia.

Meanwhile, Samson, who was included in the T20I squad against Sri Lanka, only got one game in three matches, in which he was dismissed for 6. The Kerala batsman was also included in the T20I squads against Bangladesh and West Indies last year, but did not get a single game in both the series. The five-man selection panel also decided to bring back seamer Mohammed Shami, who was also rested for the T20I series against Sri Lanka.

The BCCI also confirmed that all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s rehabilitation process is taking “longer than expected”, and he was replaced by Vijay Shankar in India ‘A’ squad for the New Zealand series.

The five-match T20I series against New Zealand will begin on January 24 in Auckland. India will also play three ODIs and two Tests, the squads for which were not announced on Sunday.

T20I squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur