India name white-ball squads for New Zealand series, Prithvi Shaw earns T20I call-up

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced India’s white-ball squads for the upcoming home series against New Zealand starting Wednesday, January 18. While a full-strength squad will be fielded for the three One Day Internationals, the selectors have decided to stick to the young brigade for the subsequent T20Is.

Rohit Sharma will be leading the ODI squad while the T20I squad will once again be led by star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who had captained the Men in Blue in the three T20Is against Sri Lanka earlier this month, in Rohit's absence. Notably, both Rohit and Virat Kohli, who was rested for the Sri Lanka T20Is, have been excluded from T20I squad. 

Prithvi Shaw receives India call-up

Emerging batter Prithvi Shaw has finally succeeded in earning a well-deserved India call-up after toiling hard consistently in the domestic circuit. Shaw, who has not been in the scheme of things since July 2021, is now back in the Indian T20I squad after he impressed the selection committee with his splendid performances in domestic cricket in the last few months. The youngster scored a blistering 379 in the Ranji Trophy 2022/23 fixture against Assam. 

Apart from that splendid knock, Shaw had also registered a stupendous 46-ball century against the same opposition during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022 in October last year. With the Indian team players now auditioning for the 2024 T20 World Cup, the Mumbai cricketer would be looking forward to making the most of his opportunities, starting with the New Zealand T20Is.

Meanwhile, KL Rahul has taken a break for family commitments as KS Bharat has earned a maiden ODI call-up. Youngster Jitesh Sharma has been considered for T20Is.

ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik.