The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has called up Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar to replace suspended KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya for the ongoing ODI series in Australia as well as the limited-overs series in New Zealand that follows.
While Vijay will be joining the team ahead of the second ODI of the ongoing series against Australia, Gill will join the squad for the New Zealand tour that comprises of five ODIs and three T20Is.
Gill was a key member of India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning team last year. He has had a good initiation in domestic cricket. The Punjab batsman had an outstanding Ranji Trophy season as he amassed 790 runs, including two hundreds, in 10 innings at 98.75. He was also part of India A squad that toured New Zealand last year.
Meanwhile, Shankar has already played five T20 internationals and is considered a handy all-rounder, much like Pandya. He proved his prowess with the bat, finishing on top of the batting charts during the one-day series with India A in New Zealand.
Pandya and Rahul, who were part of the initial squad to Australia, were sent back home after BCCI took an objection to the comments they made on a chat show on TV. The duo have been given seven days to explain why proceedings shouldn’t be initiated against them for misconduct and indiscipline under Rule 41 of the BCCI Constitution.
India ODI squad vs Australia:
Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami.
