Rishabh Pant, Mohammad Shami NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced the squad for the upcoming three-match One-Day International series against New Zealand starting on January 11 at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara.Shubman Gill returned as captain after missing the previous ODI series against South Africa due to injury.Shreyas Iyer was included in the squad and named vice-captain. However, its availability is “subject to approval from the BCCI COE,” the board said in a release.
Details on why Shreyas Iyer’s return to cricket has been delayed
Despite reports suggesting he might be left out, Rishabh Pant retained his place in the squad as Ishan Kishan, who returned to India’s T20 set-up, was not included.All-rounder Hardik Pandya was also not included. Explaining the decision, a BCCI statement said: “Hardik Pandya has not been cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in the match and with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is managed.”Nitish Kumar Reddy was named in the squad in place of Pandya.While pacer Mohammed Siraj is back in the team, Mohammad Shami could not find a place in the team despite doing the heavy lifting in domestic cricket in the last few months and it is now almost clear that BCCI has decided to move on from Shami.The first ODI of the series will be played in Vadodara on January 11. The next two matches will be played in Rajkot and Indore on January 14 and 18.Indian 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 Arish Pant, Kumarepsha Sviit (WK), N. Jaiswal.
