Harbhajan Singh calls for inclusion of Akash Madhwal in India's squad for WI T20Is

Harbhajan Singh has also named his 15-men T20I squad for India's tour of West Indies.

Team India are scheduled to tour West Indies for a multi-format series which will start on July 12 with two tests. It is to be followed by three ODIs and will be concluded with a five-match T20I series between the two teams. The BCCI announced the complete schedule on Monday, but is yet to pick the teams for the series. Former Indian off-spinner has suggested his 15-member T20I squad and picked MI pacer Akash Madhwal as an "X" factor in the team.

Notably, the two-match test series will be the first assignment for the Indian team in the new WTC cycle 2023-25. Apart from that, the ODI series will be an ideal series to test the bench strength and prepare for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in four months time. However, the BCCI is expected to send a complete new team for the T20 series and seniors will be rested. There are chances that some new faces will get the chances after doing well in the 2023 Indian Premier League.

"Akash Madhwal had a great IPL"- Harbhajan Singh reckons MI pacer deserves a place in T20Is vs WI

The former off-spinner feels that India should pick a totally new face for the West Indies T20Is. In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Bhajji revealed his 15-member squad for the T20I series and picked some youngsters. He said that Shubman Gill will be the first choice opener and wants to see Yashasvi Jaiswal alongside him and Ruturaj Gaikwad as back-up opener.

He has picked Hardik Pandya to lead the team. Harbhajan said, "I will take Axar [Patel] as the all-rounder and then the two spinners in [Ravi] Bishnoi and Yuzvendra Chahal. Akash Madhwal had a great IPL and I feel he should be there in the team as well." Madhwal played 8 games for MI in 2023 and did an amazing job. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, he performed well in death-over. In 8 games, he picked up 14 wickets including a five-wicket haul (5/5) against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator, which helped MI to reach Qualifier 2.

It was interesting to know that he didn't pick Sanju Samson in his team and picked Jitesh Sharma and Ishan Kishan as wicket-keeper batsmen in the team. Apart from that, Bhajji also picked Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzi Chahal as the spinners in the team. He also feels that it is the right time now to give the maiden T20I call to Rinku Singh, who was exceptional in the IPL 2023.

Harbhajan Singh's 15-member T20I squad vs WI: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzi Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Madhwal, Harshit Rana