Raina makes a comeback; Ashwin, Jadeja, Shami rested

Pandey retains his spot for the first three ODI against NZ

Keeping an eye on the long Test season at home, India have rested their senior bowlers Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami for the first three one-day internationals of the five-match series against New Zealand, which begins from October 16 in Dharamsala.

India, who are currently in the midst of three-match Test series against the Black Caps, have 11 more Test matches to play in the 2016-17 season.

Suresh Raina and leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who last featured in the ODIs against South Africa in October 2015, have been recalled to the squad. The new selection committee headed by MSK Prasad took into account Raina' ability to contribute as a part-time spinner. Raina was left out of the ODI squads from the previous tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.

"Suresh Raina has been picked because he offers a good bowling option and with several youngsters in the team he offers experience. He also performed well in Duleep Trophy,” Prasad said in his first appearance as the chief selector on Thursday.

In the absence of injured openers, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul due to injuries, Mandeep Singh has been drafted into the side. The Punjab batsman, who had earned a national call-up for the three T20 internationals in Zimbabwe, had caught the eye of the selectors due to his strong showing for India ‘A’ in the quadrangular series they won in Australia. He scored 198 runs in six matches, including a 95 in the final. Murali Vijay, however, continued to be ignored for the ODIs, though his name was discussed along with Gautam Gambhir.

Effusive

Prasad was effusive in praise of Mandeep and also of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who was also the part of India ‘A’ in Australia. Both Mandeep and Pandya, who have become a regular in India’s T20 matches, are yet to make their debuts in ODIs.

Apart from Mandeep, Manish Pandey too stood out with his performance for India ‘A’. The 27-year-old Karnataka batsman was the highest run-getter with 359 runs in seven games that included two hundreds. 

India had rested most of their senior players from their last ODIs against Zimbabwe in June. Apart from captain MS Dhoni, who was present for the selection, only seven players have been retained for the first three ODIs against New Zealand- Mandeep, Bumrah, Kedar Jadhav, Dhawal, Pandey, Axar Patel and Jayant Yadav.

With Bhuvneshwar Kumar ruled out of Indore Test due to back strain and Ishant Sharma still recovering from the bout of chikungunya, the bowling is mix of young and experienced. Umesh Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah and Pandya would be the seam options, while Mishra, Haryana off-spinner Jayant and Axar would fill the spin quotient.