Cricket news round-up – February 4: Indian Test squad announced, Rohit Sharma ruled out of rest of New Zealand tour

Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the ODI and Test series against New Zealand. Kane Willaimson was removed from the first two ODIs against India followed by his shoulder injury. Kl Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah gained in the newly released ICC T20I rankings.

Rohit Sharma to miss ODI and Test series in New Zealand

Rohit Sharma was given the responsibility to captain the Indian cricket team in the final T20I of the series against New Zealand as Virat Kohli decided to rest. During India’s innings Rohit (60*) picked up an injury in the 17^th over and was eventually retired hurt. As a result, he could not even take field during the second part of the match and KL Rahul was handling the captaincy charge. Further reports suggested that Rohit Sharma suffered a calf strain and he was ruled of the remainder of the tour.

Prithvi Shaw has been included in the 16-member Test team whereas Mayank Agarwal has been named the replacement of Rohit Sharma in the ODI squad. The first Test will begin in Wellington on February 21 followed by the second one in Christchurch on February 29.

Squad: 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).

Kane Willaimson ruled out from first two ODI against India

Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the first two games of the series due to a shoulder injury. In his absence, wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham will lead New Zealand and Mark Chapman has been called up to the squad to replace the regular captain in the side. Due to the injury, Williamson didn’t feature in the final two games of the recently concluded series. Although the X-ray reports were fine, the team management decided to take precautions before the Test series.

Team physio Vijay Vallabh said, “Kane has had an X-ray scan which cleared him of anything serious, but it’s best for his recovery that he avoids aggravating the joint for the next few days. He will continue his fitness training sessions throughout the week and will start batting again on Friday with the prospect of being available for game three next Tuesday.”

The selector Gavin Larsen welcomed Mark Chapman and said, “It’s great to welcome Mark back into the one-day unit off the back of consecutive centuries for New Zealand A against a strong India A side. Mark’s a versatile player who can cover multiple batting positions and his fielding is a real upshot to have in the squad.”

KL Rahul reaches at No. 2 in ICC T20I rankings

In the newly released ICC T20I rankings, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah made significant progress, thanks to their brilliance in the T20I series against New Zealand.

KL moved up four places to the second position just behind Babar Azam at the top with 879 points. KL now has 823 points while the Indian skipper retained his 9th rank with 673 points. Rohit Sharma also took a leap and entered the top ten list.

On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah who ended as a star performer in the final fixture against New Zealand, moved up 26 places. He is now sharing the 11th spot with the West Indian Sheldon Cottrell. In the team list, India are now at 4th position with Pakistan, Australia, and England enjoying the top three spots.