India’s ODI squad announced for NZ series; Gill back as captain

The Indian men’s selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, on Saturday, December 3, unveiled India’s 15-man ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against New Zealand, scheduled to commence on Sunday, January 11, in Vadodara. 

Opening batter Shubman Gill will return as the ODI captain with Shreyas Iyer returning from spleen injury as Gill’s deputy. However, Iyer’s return depends on the BCCI CoE’s fitness clearance ahead of the ODI series.

Also, the star pacer Mohammed Siraj has returned to the squad, while the star all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been rested. Gill, Iyer, and Siraj replaced Tilak Varma, Dhruv Jurel, and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Also, Gill and Iyer are scheduled to play a match each in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign on Tuesday, January 6, before they join the ODI squad.

For the unversed, Gill was ruled out of the recent South Africa ODI series because of a neck spasm, while Iyer is set to make his comeback from a spleen injury he sustained against Australia Down Under. 

“Hardik Pandya has not been cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in a match, and considering the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is being managed,” the BCCI statement read after announcing the squad.

The ODI series against New Zealand begins on Sunday, January 11, in Vadodara, before they head to Rajkot for the second ODI on Wednesday, January 14. The series will end with the third ODI on Sunday, January 18, in Indore.

India’s ODI squad for the New Zealand series:

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer (vc)*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. 

*subject to fitness clearance.

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