Mohammed Siraj makes ODI comeback for New Zealand series

India pacer Mohammed Siraj during the first ODI vs Australia in Perth on October 19 last year. Pic/Getty Images

Senior India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj on Saturday made a comeback to the ODI side for the three-match home series against New Zealand while batter Shreyas Iyer was included subject to fitness clearance. Siraj, who was overlooked for the home series against South Africa, is back in the ODI setup. His new ball partner Jasprit Bumrah was expectedly rested from the series with the focus on the shortest format ahead of the T20 World Cup beginning next month.

Iyer, who was hospitalised during the ODI series in Australia in November for spleen laceration, will need to prove his match fitness in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game on January 6 to get fitness clearance from the Centre of Excellence (CoE). He returns to the squad as vice-captain. Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was not cleared by the COE to bowl 10 overs in a match and therefore the selectors did not include him in the team for the series beginning in Vadodara on January 11. There is also little point in risking him with T20 showpiece around the corner.

Shreyas Iyer

The other two matches will be played in Rajkot and Indore on January 14 and 18 respectively. "Shreyas Iyer's availability is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI CoE," said the BCCI in a statement. "Hardik Pandya has not been cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in a match, and considering the ICC Men's T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is being managed," it added. Ruturaj Gaikwad could not get the selectors' nod despite scoring a fine hundred during the South Africa series.

India squad
S Gill (c), R Sharma, V Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), S Iyer (vc; subject to fitness clearance), W Sundar, R Jadeja, M Siraj, H Rana, P Krishna, K Yadav, R Pant (wk), NK Reddy, A Singh, Y Jaiswal

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever