India Announce Squad For New Zealand ODIs, Prithvi Shaw Earns Maiden Call-Up

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced the ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against New Zealand. The Virat Kohli-led side will play five T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests in New Zealand. India and New Zealand will be playing an ODI for the first time since the World Cup semifinal last year.

With Shikhar Dhawan out of the tour with a shoulder injury, Prithvi Shaw has earned his maiden ODI call-up. Dhawan injured his shoulder while fielding in the third ODI against Australia on Sunday. Prithvi Shaw, nonetheless, has been included in the senior national squad for the 1st time since his doping ban.

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The young India opener was handed a backdated ban of 8 months for a doping violation during the 2018-19 domestic season. The ban ended in November and he has been in stunning form since then. After scoring a double century in Ranji Trophy, he recently scored 100-ball 150 for India A in a 50-over warm-up game against New Zealand XI.

The BCCI also gave an update on the Dhawan’s injury and confirmed that the opener has suffered a grade two injury. The southpaw will resume his mandatory rehabilitation programme in the first week of February.

“An MRI of his shoulder was conducted, and the results have confirmed a grade II injury of his acromio-clavicular joint. His hand will be in a sling and he has been advised rest for some time. He will start his active rehab management in the first week of February at the National Cricket Academy,” the BCCI said in a release.

Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, who was spotted training with the Indian team during an ODI against Australia in Mumbai, was not named in the limited-over squads. According to reports, the allrounder will now head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and train under the watchful eyes of Rahul Dravid.

Kedar Jadhav has also retained his place in the ODI squad despite not featuring in the playing XI during the Australia series. There were reports suggesting that India are set to axe the middle-order batsman and would call either Ajinkya Rahane or Suryakumar Yadav.

India’s ODI squad:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (vc), Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Kedar Jadhav.