The BCCI announced several teams on Friday for New Zealand’s white-ball series and for the first two Tests against Australia. However, there were a few notable misses from the squads announced for the ODI and T20I series against New Zealand. Notably, Axar Patel and KL Rahul were not chosen by the BCCI in any of the white-ball squads.
Team India is ready to play against New Zealand in a three-match ODI series and a three-match T20I series, following the completion of the ODI series against Sri Lanka. The ODI series will begin on January 18, followed by the T20I series. Both Axar Patel and KL Rahul are part of the Indian ODI squad currently playing against Sri Lanka.
Revealed Reason Behind Axar Patel’s And KL Rahul’s Absence From India Squad For New Zealand Series:
As mentioned, the BCCI announced the selection of ODI and T20I for the series against New Zealand on Friday. While Hardik Pandya will continue to lead team India in the shortest format, Rohit Sharma will be back for the ODIs. There was no clarity from the BCCI as to why Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were not picked for the T20 squad.
However, the BCCI categorically cited the absence of both Axar Patel and KL Rahul. The BCCI stated in a tweet: “KL Rahul & Axar Patel were unavailable for the New Zealand Home series due to family commitments”
𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘: KL Rahul & Axar Patel were unavailable for the New Zealand Home series due to family commitments.#TeamIndia | #INDvNZ
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 13, 2023
The home series against New Zealand kicks off on January 18 with the first ODI of the series to be played at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. It is followed by a pair of ODIs at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur and Holkar Stadium in Indore respectively.
The T2OI series against the Blackcaps kicks off on January 27 with the 3 T20Is played in Ranchi, Lucknow and Ahmedabad. The series is followed by the Border-Gavaskar trophy, for which the Indian squad for the first 2 tests was also announced Friday.
