Thakur, Karthik back in India team
Mumbai, India - Shardul Thakur and Dinesh Karthik have made their way back into the ODI squad for the first three matches against New Zealand starting October 22 in Mumbai.
Shikhar Dhawan, who had sought leave for the Australia ODIs to be with his ill wife, also returned to the 15-man squad.
Lokesh Rahul, who was in the squad for the ODIs against Australia, was left out. India's frontline spinners in Tests - R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja - were also not part of the squad which meant the spin trio of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel was retained.
Jadeja had earlier been named a replacement for Axar, who had sprained his left ankle, for the first three ODIs against Australia but could not find a place in the XI given the performances of Kuldeep and Chahal, before Axar returned for the last two ODIs.
In the pace department, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami were left out from the squad after both of them played only the fourth ODI against Australia in Bengaluru. Their omission means Thakur joins Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar among the quicks.
Karthik's selection, according to a BCCI official, was a reward for his consistent performances lately. In his most recent international games - a T20I and an ODI against West Indies in July - he scored 48 and 50 not out respectively. Karthik also finished with the second-highest aggregate in the Duleep Trophy.
In fact, Karthik, who plays as a specialist middle-order batsman for India in limited-overs cricket, was also preferred to Rahul, who didn't get a game against Australia after a poor tour of Sri Lanka.
"Karthik's inclusion is a reward for the runs he has been scoring," the official told ESPNcricinfo. “We are trying to rotate everybody. We are open to different combinations and options,” he added.
Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, M S Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.