All three players have established themselves as key members of their respective IPL franchises. Gaikwad was the Orange Cap holder for scoring the most runs in IPL 2021 for champions Chennai Super Kings, while Avesh and Hooda are coming off impressive seasons for IPL debutants Lucknow Super Giants this year. More recently, Hooda made his maiden T20I century on the tour of Ireland late last month.
Gaikwad, in particilar, has been prolific in 50-overs cricket, having hit 603 runs in five innings for Maharashtra during the domestic 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy in December last year. He hit four centuries then, the joint-highest in a single edition of the tournament. He struck those runs at a strike rate of 112.94.
Largely seen as a one-format player now, Dhawan will lead India in a series only for the second time. Last July, he led a second-string squad on the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, even as the regulars were in England for the WTC final against New Zealand as well as the Test series against England that followed.
Like Rahul, Deepak Chahar and Kuldeep Yadav were also not considered for selection, with both of them recovering from injuries. Washington Sundar, meanwhile, is in the final stages of his rehab, following which he will fly out to England for a short county stint with Lancashire.
India’s tour of the Caribbean begins with the ODIs in Trinidad from July 22. They will also play five T20Is, across Trinidad, St Kitts & Nevis and Florida (USA), before the tour ends on August 7.
India ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-capt), Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.