INDIA V NEW ZEALAND, 2016

Raina ruled out; India retain same squad for last two ODIs

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

An unchanged squad also means the likes of Ashwin, Jadeja and Shami get an extended rest, before they return for India's home Test series against England, starting on November 9. © Cricbuzz

India have opted to retain the same squad for the last two One-Day Internationals (ODI) against New Zealand, to be played in Ranchi (October 26) and Visakhapatnam (October 29), Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Monday (October 24).

Suresh Raina, who was brought back into the India ODI squad at the start of the series, but missed the first three matches after failing to recover from viral fever, has not been named in the side. He is yet to regain full fitness and will miss the last two games of the series.

The 29-year-old left-handed batsman last featured in an ODI back in October 2015. Poor outings led to his subsequent ouster as he missed five ODIs in Australia in January this year and three ODIs and three T20Is in Zimbabwe in June. However, he found himself in the 15-man squad that was named for the first three matches against New Zealand.

Raina's illness also denied him the chance to bat in Uttar Pradesh's Ranji Trophy 2016-17 opener against Madhya Pradesh in Hyderabad. The UP skipper reportedly flew back home mid-way through the game to work on his recovery.

An unchanged squad also means the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami get an extended rest, before they return for India's home Test series against England, starting on November 9.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav.

© Cricbuzz