Gill in charge, Iyer in command: India name squads for West Indies white-ball home series

The same announcement also confirmed the rest of the India squad for the Irani Cup and an updated group for the Japan T20I and Asian Games.

It is a squad list that tries to do two jobs at once. India needs a 50-over core that can grow toward the 2027 World Cup. They also need a T20I group that stays aggressive after the Asian Games window and the one-off fixture in Japan.

Gill’s ODI side: Top cadres stay, two debuts wait

Gill captains a 15-man ODI squad with KL Rahul as vice-captain. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been retained. Ruturaj Gaikwad is back after last featuring in an ODI during the home series against South Africa last year. Ravindra Jadeja returns to the 50-over fold. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Nitish Kumar Reddy add depth.

The two fresh names will attract most of the attention. Naman Dhir has earned a maiden India call-up. Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi, previously in the Test squad for Sri Lanka without making his debut, gets his first ODI cap opportunity. The pace group around them includes Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar, with Kuldeep Yadav as the specialist spinner.

Hardik Pandya has not been picked, with reports pointing to fitness clearance still pending. Rishabh Pant is also absent from both white-ball squads and will instead captain Rest of India in the Irani Cup.

Iyer’s T20I side: youth, pace and two keepers

Shreyas Iyer captains the T20I team, with Tilak Varma as vice-captain. The batting look is sharp and young at the top: Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, plus Iyer, Tilak and Shivam Dube. Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson are both named as wicketkeepers.

The bowling unit mixes experience and unfinished business. Arshdeep Singh leads the left-arm seam attack. Mayank Yadav returns after missing the Afghanistan T20Is. Prince Yadav keeps his place. Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy give Iyer several middle-overs options.

The road map: three ODIs, five T20Is

The ODI window overlaps with the Asian Games cricket competition in Japan (24 September–3 October). That is why several regular white-ball names — Iyer, Kishan, Axar, Washington Sundar and Jasprit Bumrah among them — are aligned with the continental assignment rather than the 50-over series.

Pant leads Rest of India; Chakravarthy out of Japan

Rishabh Pant will captain Rest of India against Ranji Trophy champions Jammu & Kashmir in the Irani Cup. Sarfaraz Khan is vice-captain. Akash Deep is in the squad subject to fitness clearance.

There is also a late change for the short Japan trip. Varun Chakravarthy has been ruled out of the Japan T20I and the Asian Games with a side strain. Vipraj Nigam has been named as his replacement — a first senior India call-up. Nitish Kumar Reddy has been withdrawn from the Asian Games squad so he can play the ODI series against West Indies.

What it all signals

The ODI squad still leans on proven match-winners — Gill, Rohit, Kohli, Rahul, Jadeja, Siraj — while opening the door for Dhir and Nabi. The T20I squad looks more like a finishing school: young batters, two keepers, express pace and spin variety under Iyer.

For supporters, the next month is packed. India start against West Indies in Trivandrum on 27 September. Before that, a revised T20 group heads to Japan.

After the ODIs, the same country hosts five night games from Lucknow to Chinnaswamy. The names are out. The calendar is set. Now the cricket begins.