Dhruv Jurel replaces injured Rishabh Pant in India squad for New Zealand ODI series

Dhruv Jurel has been announced as the replacement of the injured Rishabh Pant for India’s series ODI series against New Zealand that starts Sunday, January 11 in Vadodara.

READ | India vs New Zealand Live Score 1st ODI at Vadodara

Pant was injured during a practice session on the eve of the series opener as he was hit above the waist while batting in the nets. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that the left-handed wicket-keeper batter had been diagnosed with a side strain and thus will miss the series.

“Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant felt a sudden onset discomfort in his right lateral abdominal area while batting in the nets during India’s practice session on Saturday afternoon at the BCA Stadium, Vadodara. He was taken for MRI scans immediately and the BCCI Medical Team had a detailed discussion with an expert on his clinical and radiological findings. Pant has been diagnosed with a side strain (Oblique Muscle Tear) and is subsequently ruled out of the ODI Series,” BCCI said in a statement on Sunday.

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Dhruv Jurel called back as replacement

The right-handed Jurel has returned to the Indian team after missing out on the original squad. The 24-year-old was in the ODI squad that toured Australia and also was part of the team that played South Africa at home recently.

However, with the leadership duo of captain Shubman Gill and vice captain Shreyas Iyer back in the side, he had to be dropped. Now with Pant’s injury, he is back into the squad once more.

Even though he has made into the squad, it seems highly unlikely that he would get a chance to play as Pant himself was not sure to make the playing XI. With KL Rahul handling the wicket-keeping duties and batting brilliantly in the middle order, Jurel will have to wait for his turn.

While he has played nine Tests and four T20Is for India, Jurel is yet to make his ODI debut. The youngster is currently the third highest scorer in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy where he has accumulated 558 runs with two centuries and four half-centuries in seven innings for Uttar Pradesh. His strike rate of 122.90 has also stood out and helped him force his way back into the Indian side.

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India’s updated 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, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (WK).