Shubman Gill To Lead Team India Vs New Zealand As BCCI Announces ODI Squad

New Delhi: Star batter Shubman Gill will be leading Team India for the upcoming three-game ODI series against New Zealand, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Saturday.

Are there any changes to the squad?

Former skippers Rohit and Virat also feature in the squad. However, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has not been selected for the New Zealand in an effort to manage his workload while the inclusion of top order batter Shreyas Iyer is subject to fitness clearance. 

Do we know the schedule?

India is scheduled to take on New Zealand in a multi-format white-ball series which starts later this month. The two sides will lock horns in a series featuring three ODI matches and five T20Is. Vadodara, Rakot and Indore are scheduled to host the three ODI matches.

The opening clash of the ODI series is scheduled for Janaury 11 in Vadodara while Rajkot will host the second match on January 14 and the third and final tie will be in Indore on January 18.

The BCCI had announced India’s T20I squad for the home series against New Zealand earlier. Interestingly, the BCCI has named Shreyas Iyer as the vice-captain of Team India for the ODI series even though his participation in the series is not clear as of now as he is yet to clear the fitness test.

What about Iyer?

Iyer had picked up an injury during an ODI series Down Under against Australia. He has been out of action since then and has been undergoing rehabilitation. Even if Iyer is unable to clear the fitness test, there no shortage of star power for Team India due to the presence of the likes of KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Rishabh Pant, and many more stars.

What is the biggest change?

One of the biggest names missing from the squad is Hardik Pandya. The star all-rounder has not been selected for the ODI series, as he has not been cleared by the BCCI since the back room staff are of the opinion that he is not fit enough to bowl 10 overs in a match as yet. The fitness and work load management of the Mumbai Indias captain assumes added significant with the T20 World Cup approaching

India’s ODI squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC)*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal