Mayank Agarwal Replaces Rohit Sharma For New Zealand ODIs

Ahead of the ODI series against New Zealand, India have suffered a huge blow with their star man Rohit Sharma being ruled out. The opening batsman suffered a calf injury in the fifth and final T20I on Sunday and has now joined his teammate Shikhar Dhawan on the sidelines.

Rohit Sharma, who was standing in as captain after Virat Kohli was rested for the final match, retired hurt after scoring 60 before KL Rahul took charge on the field during New Zealand’s chase. Before him, Dhawan was already out of the tour after injuring his shoulder during the ODI series against Australia last month.

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India have now named uncapped Mayank Agarwal as Rohit Sharma’s replacement. While Mayank Agarwal has cemented his spot in the Test side, he is yet to make his ODI debut. He earned his maiden call up from the ODI team last year during the World Cup to replace an injured Vijay Shankar but was dropped from the team after the tournament.

With both Rohit Sharma and Dhawan out, Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw are likely to open the innings. Along with Mayank, Shaw is also uncapped in ODIs and earned his maiden call-up only because of Dhawan’s injury. KL Rahul, who usually opens the innings whenever Dhawan or Rohit gets injured, is likely to bat at number five.

India, meanwhile, will play 3 ODIs against New Zealand starting February 5. The Men in Blue have started their tour of New Zealand in a stunning fashion by clean sweeping the five-match T20I series. On Sunday, the visitors New Zealand by 7 runs.

Batting first, India scored 163 for 3 with Rohit Sharma top-scoring with 60 before retiring hurt. In reply, New Zealand ended their innings on 156 for 9. The hosts once again made a mess of their chase and suffered an almighty collapse to throw away a good position.