Virat Kohli seems to be opting for a balanced mix of veteran and young talent for the upcoming Tests and ODIs. With Rohit Sharma out of the ODI series because of a calf injury picked up in the fifth T20i, Mayank Agarwal has been brought in as his replacement.
Prithvi Shaw, an experienced Test player, is set to open the ODI batting alongside Mayank Agarwal. Shaw is returning to the fold after a suspension involving a doping complaint, which ended in November 2019. The designated top-order batting lineup for the ODIs consists of Agarwal, Shaw, Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer.
Following a shoulder injury, Shaw regained his form by playing for Mumbai in the 2019-2020 Ranji Trophy and featuring in a match against New Zealand A. He made headlines by scoring a record 202 runs against Baroda, a performance that helped secure his spot in the Test series against the Kiwis.
India is currently touring New Zealand across three different formats. After a dominant 5-0 whitewash in the T20i series, the team is now preparing for the ODI leg. The opening ODI is set to take place on February 5th at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
The Indian ODI squad is comprised of Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, and Kedar Jadhav.