Dhawan, Karthik return; Rahul dropped for NZ ODIs

The axe has fallen on KL Rahul, who was seen as a man for all formats as latest as the Sri Lanka tour

New Delhi: Opener Shikhar Dhawan and wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik made a comeback to the Indian ODI side as the MSK Prasad-led selection committee named a 15-men squad for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand starting on October 22.

The axe has fallen on KL Rahul, who was seen as a man for all formats as latest as the Sri Lanka tour. A string of low scores batting at an unusual No. 4 position and inability to decode spinner Akela Dananjaya pushed the stylish right-hander out of the playing XI in the latter part of the Sri Lanka series. Things did not change in the Australia series as Rahul warmed the benches despite the absence of regular opener Shikhar Dhawan.

Dinesh Karthik has been drafted into the side in place of Rahul. Karthik last played an ODI against West Indies earlier this year. He was then ignored for the Sri Lanka and Australia series. However, he did find a place in the T20 side against Australia but did not feature in the playing XI.

Quite expectedly, Shikhar Dhawan has got his place back in the side. He was unavailable for the Australia ODI series due to his wife’s illness.

Interestingly, the selectors have again ignored India’s premeiere spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, giving a clear indication that the spinners will now only feature in longest format of the game. Ashwin and Jadeja are currently playing the Ranji Trophy for their respective states.

Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel are the three specialist spinners in their absence.

There was further indication of forming a different bowling attack for the limited overs as Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav were kept out of the 15-men squad.

Mumbai paceman Shardul Thakur, who was ignored for the Australia series after making his debut in Sri Lanka has made comeback to the side.

Team: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur