BCCI Adds Ishan Kishan And Shahrukh Khan To 1st ODI Squad Against West Indies; Deepak Hooda Makes Debut

BCCI on Saturday added wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan and big-hitter Shahrukh Khan to the Rohit Sharma-led squad for the first ODI against the West Indies, which will be played on Sunday in Ahmedabad.

The two players have been added to the squad on the eve of the ODI series opener after three of the players in the initial 18-man squad tested positive for Covid-19. Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer were the three along with standby player Navdeep Saini to contract the virus after arriving in Ahmedabad.

BCCI Adds Keeper Ishan Kishan To ODI Squad For 1st Match Against West Indies

Notably, India added Mayank Agarwal to the ODI squad earlier this week but captain Rohit Sharma confirmed on Saturday that the Karnataka batter is still in quarantine. He said he will open with Ishan Kishan in the first ODI, which also will be India’s 1000th in the 50-over format of the game.

KL Rahul, the vice-captain of the team, is not available for the first ODI due to personal reasons, the BCCI had said when announcing the initial squad.

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has added Ishan Kishan and Shahrukh Khan to India’s squad for the first ODI against the West Indies to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday,” the BCCI said in a release.

The 23-year-old Ishan Kishan has played two ODIs, from which he has scored 60 runs at a strike rate of 130.43 with 59 as his career-best score. The southpaw has also featured in five T20Is from which he has scored 113 runs. In 7 games for the senior national team(5 T20Is, 2 ODIs), Ishan Kishan has got 173 runs with a strike rate touching 130 in both formats.

Shahrukh Khan Also Added To Squad

The 26-year-old Chennai-born Shahrukh Khan, known for his ability to finish games, is a right-handed batter. He has played 33 ‘List A’ games from which he has scored 737 runs.

Following a terrific stint in the domestic circuit for Tamil Nadu, the youngster was bought for a whopping Rs. 5.25 crore at the players’ auction for IPL 2021- becoming Punjab Kings biggest Indian buy-in IPL 2021. Shahrukh Khan has played 11 IPL matches in his debut IPL season for Punjab Kings scoring 153 runs with a best of 47.

In terms of the head-to-head record between the two sides, India are slightly ahead of West Indies with 64 wins in 133 matches. West Indies, on the other hand, have won 63 of those 133 games.

India vs West Indies, 1st ODI Squad:  Rohit Sharma (Captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan, Shahrukh Khan.

India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to field first against West Indies in Ahmedabad. Rajasthan allrounder Deepak Hooda is making his ODI debut.