Mayank Agarwal replaces Rohit Sharma in India ODI team, Prithvi Shaw returns to Test team

Mayank Agarwal replaced India vice-captain Rohit Sharma in the One Day International team for the three-match series against New Zealand after the latter was ruled out of the tour due to a calf injury. The right-handed batsman Agarwal has not represented India in any ODIs far and will make his debut if he is picked in the playing XI against New Zealand.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) All-India Senior Selection Committee also named young batting star Prithvi Shaw in the Test squad for the two-match series against New Zealand. Prithvi Shaw is a replacement for Rohit Sharma in the Test team.

Shaw, 20, has played two Tests and had scored a hundred on debut against the West Indies in 2018. One of the young stars, he has scored 237 runs in the two Tests. He is returning to the India Test team after more than 15 months. He had suffered an ankle injury ahead of India's tour of Australia in 2018-19 and was then banned by the BCCI for 8 months after testing positive for Terbutaline.

Rohit Sharma strained his left calf muscle during the fifth T20 International against New Zealand at Tauranga on Sunday (February 2, 2020) and underwent an MRI scan in Hamilton on Monday. He will now be referred to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for further treatment of his injury.

Ajinkya Rahane has been named the vice-captain of the Test team which will be led by Virat Kohli. The two wicketkeepers in the Test team are Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant. Right-arm pace bowler Ishant Sharma, too, has been named in the 16-member Test team but he is yet to recover completely from a grade 3 ankle tear. According to the BCCI, Ishant Sharma will only be picked in the playing XI if he regains full-match fitness before the Test series starting at Wellington from February 21, 2020.

Earlier on February 1, 2020, allrounder Hardik Pandya was ruled out of New Zealand Test series as he failed to recover in time following back surgery in October 2019. The 26-year-old Pandya was named in India A's team for the tour of New Zealand. However, he was later withdrawn as he was not fully fit and is still undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA in Bengaluru.

Pandya was initially drafted into India A's squad for the tour of New Zealand but was later withdrawn for precautionary measures. He was hopeful of making his international comeback mid-way through the senior team's tour, but those hopes have been dashed.

Accompanied by NCA head physio Ashish Kaushik, Pandya has travelled to London in the United Kingdom for a review of his surgery and rehabilitation by spinal surgeon Dr James Allibone.

India’s Test team: Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ishant Sharma (subject to fitness clearance).