Veteran pacer replaces injured Arshdeep as India prepare for series finale against West Indies

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been added to India’s squad for the fifth T20I against the West Indies in Bengaluru, the Selection committee confirmed. 

Bhuvneshwar’s inclusion comes after Arshdeep Singh sustained a blow to his bowling shoulder during the fourth T20I in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

A decision on Arshdeep’s availability for the series finale will be taken ahead of the match, subject to his recovery.

The 36-year-old, whose last appearance in the shortest format came in November 2022, has also been included in the squad for the New Zealand series, scheduled for later this month

The West Indies have tied the T20I series 2-2 against India, with the series decider set to be played in Bengaluru on Saturday before the hosts depart for their tour of New Zealand scheduled to begin on October 22.

Updated India T20I squad:

Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma (vc), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Naman Dhir, Bhuvneshwar Kumar