5 Surprise picks in the Indian ODI squad for the series against New Zealand

India’s new selection panel led by former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman MSK Prasad sat down for the first time and picked the 15-member Indian ODI squad for the first three of the five ODIs against New Zealand which starts later this month.

The squad led by MS Dhoni saw limited overs specialist like Manish Pandey and Jasprit Bumrah come back to the team. The squad announced threw a few surprises at the fans. Two big names – Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin – have been rested.

Another surprising omission was of Yuvraj Singh who was recently called for the fitness test ahead of the Test series. It was highly speculated that he will find a place but that didn’t happen. At the same time, a few unexpected names that didn’t look in the contention for a place in the team also made the cut.

1. Suresh Raina:

Suresh Raina was the most surprising selection made by the newly-appointed selection panel. He has been off color in the limited overs format and was axed earlier this year. The Uttar Pradesh batsman was dropped for India’s last limited-overs’ series against West Indies in the USA.

The left-handed batsman was a part of the Indian side during ICC World T20 but had a poor outing, managing just 41 runs in 5 matches. In the last ODI series appearance, all he could contribute was scores of 3, 0,0, 53 and 12.

Keeping the latest omission in the mind, the chances of him making comeback looked skeptical. However, it seems that his past reputation and all-around capability made the selectors think that he deserved another chance to get back his mojo.