Rahul, Shami, Umesh dropped for New Zealand ODIs

KL Rahul was dropped while Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik and Shardul Thakur made a comeback to the Indian ODI team, for the forthcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand.

Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who were part of the Indian team for the ODI series Australia, were also left out of the 15-member squad as the selectors decided to retain Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah along with Thakur.

Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm tweaker Ravindra Jadeja continued to be left out of the squad, with the two spinners currently playing in the Ranji Trophy for their respective teams. Infact, Ashwin had also recently cleared the yo-yo fitness test to stake a claim for his return to the limited overs team.

They had also missed the ODI series against Australia as the selectors decided to continue with the young duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who excelled during the home series against Australia, once again won the trust of the selectors along with Axar Patel.

Veteran Dinesh Karthik returned to the ODI team as he was included in place of Rahul. The Tamil Nadu batsman last played for India during the West Indies tour in July and was also a part of the ICC Champions Trophy squad. He was part of the T20 squad for the recently-concluded Australia series but did not get a game.

Mumbai pacer Thakur was dropped for the series against Australia after playing in Sri Lanka but he was given another chance to prove himself at the highest level.

India team for New Zealand ODIs: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (w/k), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.