New Delhi, Jun 16 (IANS): Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has said that Hardik Pandya is the most matured captain, as the all-rounder gears up for his first tour as skipper.

Hardik has been in some sensational form both with the bat and ball and was the highest run-getter for Gujarat Titans in the recently-concluded IPL.

BCCI has named Pandya as the captain of the Indian side for Ireland T20Is as it picked a 17-member squad on Wednesday.

All-rounder Pandya will lead the side during the tour while pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be his deputy. Team India will play two T20Is in Dublin on June 26 and June 28.

"Rise and rise of Hardik Pandya. Even though he's captained only one season…I feel that he's the most matured captain amongst the younger lot of contenders. Here's wishing him all the very best for the first assignment for Team India," Aakash Chopra said exclusively on the Koo app.

Meanwhile, batter Rahul Tripathi, who represented Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022 has earned his maiden national side call-up.

Batters Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson will also make a return to the side.

India's T20I squad: Hardik Pandya (captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.