Indian squad for the New Zealand ODIs announced

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced the Indian squad for the One-Day International series against the visiting New Zealand team. In a major change, the selectors dropped Lokesh Rahul from the side and have included wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik. Team India will play 3 ODIs against the Kiwis starting October 22 followed by as many T20Is.

While the rest of the batting line-up remained the same, Shikhar Dhawan who was available for selection returns to the opening slot. In the bowling department pacers, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have been excluded while Shardul Thakur finds a place back in the team after making his ODI debut in Sri Lanka and missing the Australia series.

Both Umesh and Shami were fielded for just one game, the 4th ODI against the Aussies that the team lost and the management rolled back to the combination of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah that has been their most successful fast-bowling pair in limited-overs cricket.

Notable exclusions from the team are spin-twin Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who last found a place in the squad in the Champions Trophy. The selectors continue to back the two wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and left-arm spinner Axar Patel for the slow bowling responsibilities.

Despite the fact that the Kiwis don’t really pose a threat given their poor form in India, no new names have been included in the squad except DK who was a part of the T20I squad against Australia. Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina two most discussed names among Indians haven’t managed to impress the selectors yet to pick them in the team and remain out of favour.

Karthik’s inclusion means the team is looking at options for the middle order that has looked fragile with both Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav failing to deliver with consistency. Rahul was given the entire Lanka tour at No.4 but he failed match after match and with multiple opening options he has a remote chance of getting a break in the top order. The veteran has in the past been a part of the team and played as batting specialist and is likely that he will be in the starting XI from the first game.

Indian squad for the ODI series against New Zealand:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur.

More to follow…