Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami were left out of India’s squads for the upcoming white-ball series against the West Indies, despite both pacers continuing to remain active in domestic cricket.
India will play three ODIs and five T20Is against the West Indies, with the series scheduled to begin on September 27. The absence of the two experienced pacers has now raised questions over their future with the Indian team.
Former India batter Aakash Chopra feels their international chances could be running out.
“So I think the writing is on the wall when you look at things from Shami and Bhuvi’s perspective. From the T20I perspective, you could have thought about Bhuvi. From the ODI perspective, you could have thought about Mohammed Shami. But you are not thinking about them,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Bhuvneshwar’s Strong IPL Season
Bhuvneshwar had a successful IPL 2026 campaign with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who went on to win the title. The experienced pacer finished the tournament with 28 wickets and an impressive average of 17.89.
He missed out on the Purple Cap by just one wicket and once again showed that he can still be effective with the new ball and at the death.
Bhuvneshwar last played for India in November 2022. His performances in the IPL had sparked calls for a return to the T20I side, but the selectors have once again opted to look elsewhere.
Shami Continues Domestic Comeback
Shami, meanwhile, has not played for India since the 2025 Champions Trophy final, where India defeated New Zealand to lift the title.
The fast bowler has continued to work his way back through domestic cricket. During the 2026/27 Duleep Trophy, Shami represented East Zone and picked up nine wickets across three matches.
Despite his experience and continued performances at the domestic level, Shami was not included in either of India’s squads for the West Indies series.
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Chopra Points To India’s New Options
Chopra also highlighted the number of younger pacers now being given opportunities in India’s white-ball setup.
“And with so many teams, so much overlap, so many new players getting opportunities, Auqib Nabi being named in the ODI team, Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav coming into the T20I setup, and neither Bhuvi nor Shami being there, I think it tells us something. This is probably something we need to accept, make peace with, and keep moving on. That’s what I think.”
India's white ball schedule against West Indies
No. | DAY | Date | Time | Match | Venue |
1 | Sun | 27-Sep-26 | 2:00 PM | 1st ODI | Trivandrum |
2 | Wed | 30-Sep-26 | 2:00 PM | 2nd ODI | Guwahati |
3 | Sat | 03-Oct-26 | 2:00 PM | 3rd ODI | New Chandigarh |
4 | Tue | 06-Oct-26 | 7:00 PM | 1st T20I | Lucknow |
5 | Fri | 09-Oct-26 | 7:00 PM | 2nd T20I | Ranchi |
6 | Sun | 11-Oct-26 | 7:00 PM | 3rd T20I | Indore |
7 | Wed | 14-Oct-26 | 7:00 PM | 4th T20I | Hyderabad |
8 | Sat | 17-Oct-26 | 7:00 PM | 5th T20I | Bengaluru |
India's white-ball squad vs West Indies
India’s ODI team: Shubman Gill [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul [VC], Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Naman Dhir.
India’s T20I Team: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [WK], Sanju Samson [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav.