Shardul Thakur and Dinesh Karthik have made their way back into the Indian squad for the first three matches against New Zealand starting October 22 in Mumbai.
KL Rahul, who was in the squad for the ODIs against Australia, was left out. India’s frontline spinners in Tests – R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – were also not part of the squad which meant the spin trio of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel was retained. Jadeja had earlier been named a replacement for Axar, who had sprained his left ankle, for the first three ODIs against Australia but could not find a place in the XI given the performances of Kuldeep and Chahal, before Axar returned for the last two ODIs.
Karthik, on the other hand, has been rewarded for his consistent show in the format in the last one year. Also, making a return to the squad is Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur, who was a part of the Indian ODI team in Sri Lanka. Shikhar Dhawan, who missed the ODIs against Australia to be with his wife, makes a return to the side that already has in-form openers Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane.
There is no place for Indian discards Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, while R Ashwin, who passed the Yo-Yo Test at the NCA earlier this week, and his spin twin in Tests, Ravindra Jadeja continue to be out of the ODI setup as the Indian selectors are continuing to give chances to the impressive wrist spin duo of Yuzi Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav along with slow left-arm spinner Axar Patel.
Pacers Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav, who were a part of the ODI series against Australia, are not included in the Virat Kohli-led squad. The selectors are yet to give an explanation about the exclusion of these names.
After the first game in Mumbai on 22nd, the series moves to Pune for the second ODI on 25th and the third and final ODI will be played at the Green Park Oval in Kapur on October 29.
Indian ODI squad to face New Zealand:AVirat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzi Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.
