Indian squad announced for the ODI series against New Zealand

The new selection panel led by former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman MSK Prasad met today to select the Indian squad for the first three matches of the 5-match One-Day International series against New Zealand starting October 16. They have opted to give the new names a go while resting those who will be playing a lot of matches in the coming days.

Skipper MS Dhoni returns to the fold and has a lot of young guys at his disposal. Though the top order batsmen have been retained in the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli the inexperienced names like Mandeep Singh and Kedar Jadhav who feature mostly in the depleted sides have also been included.

There is also one name making a comeback. Left-handed batsman Suresh Raina who was dropped following a slag in form has been recalled in the team by Prasad & Co. This is a great chance for Raina who was restricted to a domestic cricketer for an extended period in the last season to grab and regain his spot back in the series.

Two big names missing from the team are spin bowling ace Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Both the spinners are bowling and will be expected to bowl a lot of overs in the upcoming, long home Test season. This looks like a move to balance their workload keeping in mind the amount of cricket the team will play in the next one year.

Also check out – 5 Most emotional moments in MS Dhoni: The Untold Story

India squad for the first 3 ODIs vs New Zealand:

MS Dhoni (C), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav

ODI TEAM #INDvNZ– MS Dhoni(Capt), Rohit, Ajinkya, Virat, Manish, Raina, Hardik, Axar, Jayant, Mishra, Bumrah, Dhawal, Umesh, Mandeep, Kedar

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 6, 2016