Rishabh Pant ignored in ODI squad, named captain of Rest of India for Irani Cup

Rishabh Pant was left out of India’s 15-man ODI squad for the three-match series against the West Indies, but the wicket-keeper batsman will return to action to captain Rest of India in the Irani Cup. Pant will lead the side against 2025-26 Ranji Trophy champions Jammu and Kashmir, for whom Sarfaraz Khan has been named as their representative.

The Irani Cup match will be played from October 1 to 5 at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir then claimed their place in the traditional season opener won their first Ranji Trophy title in the 2025–26 season.

Pant’s omission from the ODI squad comes as India retained Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the West Indies series. Ravindra Jadeja has been recalled, while Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi and Punjab all-rounder Naman Dhir have received their first ODI call-ups.

Pant will lead the Rest of India team with some top performers from last year’s Ranji Trophy. R Smaran, who scored 950 runs, and Ayush Doseja, who scored 949, finished as the top two players of the tournament and were included in the 15-man squad. Sanat Sangwan and Sudip Kumar Gharami, who also finished among the top four scorers, were selected.

Akash Deep was also included, subject to fitness. The Bengal pacer has been sidelined with a lower back injury and last played a competitive match in February when he started for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy semi-final. The injury also ruled him out of the entire IPL 2026 season and subsequent matches for India.

India Test players Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain, who recently featured in the series against Sri Lanka, are also in the squad. Anukul Roy joins them in the spin department while Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Choudhary and Aryan Pandey are the other pace options.

Aryan Juyal has been brought in as the second wicket while Shikhar Mohan completes the batting options in the team.

Rest of India Team: Rishabh Pant (C, WK), Sanat Sangwan, Shikhar Mohan, Sudip Gharami, Sarfaraz Khan (VC), Smaran Ravichandran, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Akash Deep*, Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Choudhary, Aryan Juyal (WK), Aryan Roysh Doshu, Ayu.

*Depending on condition.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

16 Sep 2026 21:25 IST