New Zealand vs India: BCCI announces Rohit Sharma's replacements for the ODI and Test series

India were dealt with a blow a day after scripting history in the five-match T20I series as Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the subsequent ODIs and Tests. He sustained a calf injury while batting on 54 in the final T20I of the series and didn’t come out to field as well. Mayank Agarwal has been named Rohit’s replacement in the ODIs while Prithvi Shaw is set to make his comeback in the whites.

The injury comes as a huge blow to Rohit Sharma himself whose Test career was just starting to blossom after opening the innings in the home season last year. He had smashed three centuries including a double century in the three-match Test series against South Africa and was also awarded the Man of the Series for his exploits with the bat. He was looking forward to the challenge of playing with the red ball against the Kiwis.

However, the recent injury must have left Rohit disappointed as he is likely to stay out of action for a significant period of time.

Shaw and Agarwal to open the innings in the first ODI?

The BCCI confirmed Rohit Sharma’s replacements on Tuesday morning. It is very much possible now that Prithvi Shaw, who came into the squad as Shikhar Dhawan’s replacement, and Mayank Agarwal will open the innings in the first ODI which is set to be played at the Seddon Park in Hamilton on February 5. KL Rahul is another option to open the innings but Virat Kohli has confirmed that the Karnataka batsman will continue to bat at five and keep wickets as well.

As far as the replacements are concerned, both the players deserve to be in the squad based on their performances in the format. Agarwal has been the star in the domestic circuit and was also the part of the World Cup squad last year in England as he was named Vijay Shankar’s replacement.

Prithvi Shaw, on the other hand, was ruled out of the Australia tour of 2018-19 after twisting his ankle and was out of the team since then due to various reasons. But after an excellent show for India A against New Zealand A in the Unofficial One-Day series, has been included in both ODI and Test squads.