BCCI announces team for New Zealand ODIs; Shami, Rahul axed

Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced the team for the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand which will be played on October 22, 25 and 29.

The all-India Senior Selection Committee headed by MSK Prasad has once again excluded star Indian spin-duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who are currently busy playing the Ranji Trophy matches for Tamil Nadu and Saurashtra teams, respectively.

Dinesh Karthik owing to his experience has been included in the 15-member squad, while Shardul Thakur has also been given a chance.

The emerging spin sensations Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who impressed with their performance in the recently concluded home series against Australia, have managed to retain their spots.

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Axar Patel, who has not been getting much chances in the playing XI, has once again managed a place among the selected players.

Mohammed Shami and Lokesh Rahul have been replaced by Shardul Thakur and Dinesh Karthik, respectively. It may be recalled that Shami got just one match in the ODI series against Australia, while Rahul was not part of any matches in the five-match series.

Here is the complete squad captained by Virat Kohli:

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