Shubman Gill has begun practicing in Vadodara for the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand, marking his return from injury. Vice-captain Shreyas Iyer has also received clearance to join the squad after recovering from a spleen injury.
Indian skipper Shubman Gill started practice in the nets ahead of the first ODI against New Zealand at Vadodara, taking place on Sunday. The three-match ODI series against New Zealand, starting from Sunday at Vadodara, will mark the return of Gill to the Indian team after being ruled out of the South Africa T20 series due to a toe injury last month, and he was eventually left out of India's squad for the T20 World Cup. Taking to Instagram, Gill posted some pictures from a practice session at Vadodara.
Gill's Injury Woes and Kiwi Dominance
Gill has battled injuries over the past few months. Before suffering a toe injury, he was also ruled out of the Test series against South Africa last year due to his neck injury. He did not play in the remainder of the series, with Rishabh Pant leading India. Gill has been outstanding against the Kiwis in the 50-over format. He has scored 623 runs in just 12 matches at a brilliant average of 69.22, including two hundreds and 5 fifties. Gill also smashed his maiden ODI double hundred (208) against New Zealand.
Shreyas Iyer Receives Fitness Clearance
Meanwhile, Indian middle-order batting star Shreyas Iyer has also received clearance to join the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. Earlier this month, Shreyas was named in the ODI squad against New Zealand, with his participation subject to his fitness and clearance from the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru following recovery from a spleen injury sustained during the tour to Australia. Shreyas captained Mumbai in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT), and with two games under his belt so far, he is looking strong for the Kiwi ODIs.
Shreyas is currently India's ODI vice-captain and had sustained a spleen injury while taking a brilliant diving catch during the third ODI in Sydney back in October last year. Following the match, he was rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding, and subsequent tests revealed he had suffered a spleen laceration. This injury prevented him from playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and the home ODIs against South Africa.
India's ODI Squad for New Zealand Series
India's ODI squad for New Zealand series: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC)*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal. (ANI)
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