Shubman Gill has returned as the ODI captain of India’s men’s cricket team for the ODI series against New Zealand, while his deputy Shreyas Iyer has also been included, subject to fitness clearance, in the 15-member squad.
According to a BCCI statement, Shreyas’s “availability is subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI Centre of Excellence”. The seasoned batter is on a recovery curve after seriously hurting his abdominal muscle in Australia last October. He will feature in Mumbai’s next Vijay Hazare Trophy clash in Jaipur on Tuesday (January 6, 2025). Gill and Shreyas have thus replaced Ruturaj Gaikwad and Dhruv Jurel from the squad that defeated South Africa in November.
Gaikwad was unfortunate to have missed out on a place in the squad despite hitting a hundred at No. 4 against South Africa after being primarily selected as a reserve opener.
The release also clarified that Hardik Pandya was not considered since the medical staff at the Centre of Excellence has advised him to not bowl 10 overs in a game with an eye on the next month’s T20 World Cup.
Rishabh Pant retained his place with the selection committee preferring to stick to him rather than letting Ishan Kishan join the squad in his place.
The squad
Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, K.L. Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (Vice-Captain)*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
* subject to fitness
