Team India faced a major setback; Star in-form opener ruled out of NZ T20Is due to injury 

The Men in Blue are the No. 1 ranked team in both T20Is and ODIs as well. However, to remain at the top in the shorter format, they need to beat New Zealand in the upcoming series.

The first T20I will take place on Friday, January 27 at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium in Ranchi. It will kick off at 7 p.m. IST. However, just ahead of the game, the hosts suffered a setback as young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad sustained an injury to his wrist.

As a result, he has been ruled out of the entire T20I series against New Zealand. The BCCI confirmed this on Thursday. Gaikwad went to the National Cricket Stadium (NCA) in Bengaluru on Tuesday and was supposed to join the team on January 25 in Ranchi for the T20I series.

However, he complained to the medical team of the BCCI about some pain in the right wrist. Thus, he will not feature in the series. Notably, the BCCI hasn't named any replacements for the Mumbai batter, and the Indian Board is unlikely to name any replacements as the squad already includes a number of specialist openers.

Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Prithvi Shaw are already part of the team. Shaw made his comeback in the squad after a gap of almost 20 months. Meanwhile, all seniors have been given a rest in the shorter format.

Hardik Pandya will be back as a captain, and Suryakumar Yadav will assist him as vice captain. Notably, Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson are also not part of the team because of their injuries. Iyer is on his rehab at the MCA while Samson is in Kerala for consultation with a physiotherapist about his knee injury.