Ahead of the beginning the ODI series against the hosts New Zealand, the visitors suffered a big blow as Rohit Sharma has reportedly been ruled out from the series due to calf injury. He is also likely to miss the subsequent Test series in this tour.
The limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma played some crucial roles during India’s 5-0 victory in the recently concluded five-match T20I series in New Zealand. He was rested in the fourth game of that series at Westpac Stadium (Wellington). But he returned to the side for the last match at Bay Oval (Mount Maunganui) as the replacement of the captain Virat Kohli and led the side in that game on last Sunday (2nd February) night.
Rohit Sharma played a massive role in that fifth T20I as his 60 runs (41 balls) helped the visitors to set up the match-winning first innings total of 163/3 (20 overs).
Rohit Sharma sustained a calf injury during Mount Maunganui T20I
During the 17th over, when Rohit went for a single, he suffered a calf injury. Soon, the physio came on the field for the treatment. After handling that situation, Rohit smashed a sixer on the very next ball. However, he was still struggling to run as he conceded two back-to-back dot balls. Finally, he decided to walk off the field, and Shivam Dube came to bat in that situation.
Rohit didn’t return to the field in the remainder of that match, and KL Rahul played the stand-in captain role till the end of that match. India won that final game of that T20I series by seven runs.
According to the latest report of ABP News, Rohit Sharma has been ruled out from the remaining matches of this tour. The visitors will now play the three-match ODI series, and two-match Test series in this New Zealand tour and Rohit will miss both these forthcoming series.
Breaking: Sources say @ImRo45 ruled out of ODIs and Tests against NZ due to injury sustained during final T20. I assume @mayankcricket is obvious in ODIs. Interesting @PrithviShaw gets his place back in time with #KLRahul, Shubmam Gill in loop. #INDvsNZ @ABPNews @Wahcricketlive
— G. S. Vivek (@GSV1980) February 3, 2020
While the ODI series will run from 5th to 11th February, they will play the Test series between 21st February and 4th March. As Shikhar Dhawan is already missing out the ODI series, it will be interesting to see who will be the opening partner with KL Rahul. Uncapped ODI player Prithvi Shaw is in the ODI squad for this New Zealand tour.