India suffered another injury blow, Star batter ruled out of ODIs vs NZ; BCCI announces RCB batter as replacement

India will host New Zealand for three ODIs and three T20Is. The tour will start with the ODI series starting on January 18 (Wednesday) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Axar Patel and KL Rahul have taken a break from the ODI series.

The other team was almost the same as the series against Sri Lanka. However, just on the eve of the first ODI, India suffered a setback when star Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the upcoming ODI series due to the injury.

On Tuesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that Iyer has been ruled out of the series due to the back injury, and he will be reporting to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for further analysis. Meanwhile, the Indian selection committee has also named his replacement.

It will be Royal Challengers Bangalore middle-order batter Rajat Patidar, who will replace him in the team. And without Rahul and Axar as well, it will be interesting to see who will be the players who will bat in the middle order against India. Suryakumar Yadav might get games in the absence of Rahul. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan can also get a nod because Rahul kept wickets and India need a wicket-keeper.

Washington Sundar has replaced Axar, and he will be the spin-bowling all-rounder for India. The ODI series will end on Tuesday, January 24 at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. And after a two-day gap, the T20I series will begin on January 27 in Ranchi. Hardik Pandya will be leading that side, with Suryakumar as the vice captain.

Updated Indian ODI squad against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (Wk), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (Wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Umran Malik.