Pacer Prasidh Krishna has been ruled out of India’s five-match ODI series against New Zealand with a hamstring injury, the BCCI has confirmed, while Mohammed Siraj joins India A for red-ball preparation and Nitish Kumar Reddy will link up with the A side after the first ODI.
The BCCI announced the changes on Friday, reshaping both the senior one-day squad and the India A group on the New Zealand tour. Prasidh had been named in the squad for the first three ODIs when the tour parties were announced on 16 October, subject to a fitness clearance, but the selectors have now concluded that he needs more time to recover and rebuild his bowling workload.
Prasidh’s road back
The BCCI has not named a replacement for Prasidh in the ODI squad. The seamer will undergo a Return to Play assessment, and if he clears it, he could join India A for the third four-day game against New Zealand A to gain match practice before the Test series. The ODI series starts on 4 November, with the first match in Auckland, and the two Tests follow from 19 November.
Siraj and Nitish shuffle between squads
Siraj has been added to India A for the second four-day match against New Zealand A, which starts on 31 October. The move gives the fast bowler a block of red-ball cricket before India’s Test assignments. Nitish Kumar Reddy, meanwhile, remains available for the opening ODI and will then join India A for the third and final four-day game, a plan that fits the build-up to the Tests.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal and Yash Rathod have also been added to the India A group for the 31 October game, with Dhruv Jurel leading the side.
What comes next
India arrive in the ODI series on the back of a T20I campaign that ended with Abhishek Sharma’s 35-ball century in Wellington, and the tour party was first announced with Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer sharing the ODI captaincy. Prasidh’s absence leaves the pace attack to be settled from the existing group, and his fitness over the next week will decide whether he is available for the Tests.
