Prithvi Shaw was rewarded for his good showing in domestic cricket as he was called up to the Indian team for the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand.
Hardik Pandya was retained as the captain, while former skipper Rohit Sharma was left out along with Virat Kohli as the selectors made their plans clear as far as the Indian T20 team is concerned.
However, the senior duo was picked in the ODI team for the three-match series against the Kiwis, starting on January 18.
Mumbai’s Shaw had slammed a career-best 379 in the Ranji Trophy match against Assam. He was in scintillating form with the bat in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament too, smashing 332 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 181.
There was no place for Kerala’s Sanju Samson as Jitesh Sharma bagged the second wicketkeeper’s slot in the T20 team for the three-match series, which begins on January 27.
KS Bharath replaced KL Rahul in the ODI team after the latter was granted leave for his wedding, which is set to take place on January 23, while Axar Patel also took a break and was replaced by Shahbaz Ahmed in the T20 team, while Kuldeep Yadav took his place in the T20I team.
“KL Rahul & Axar Patel were unavailable for the New Zealand Home series due to family commitments,” BCCI said in a media release.
Arshdeep Singh was dropped from the ODI team with pace bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur getting the nod.
Umran Malik was the only pacer picked in both the ODI and T20I teams but veteran pacer Harshal Patel was dropped from the T20 team as Mukesh Kumar made a comeback.
India’s squad for NZ T20Is: Hardik Pandya (captain), Suryakumar Yadav (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan (w/k), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (w/k), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Prithvi Shaw, Mukesh Kumar.
India’s squad for NZ ODIs: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain),Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (w/k), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (w/k), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik.
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