Guwahati: Indian batter Rishabh Pant was released from the ODI squad. He will play again in the Test series after meeting the BCCI medical team.
According to a tweet from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Axar Patel was not available for selection for the opening ODI, after being cut from the team, Rishabh Pant will re-join it for the Tests.
Axar Patel is also not included in the starting lineup because the BCCI stated that the all-rounder was not available for selection for the opening ODI.
Due to Pant’s unavailability, KL Rahul will maintain wickets at Mirpur on Sunday and Kuldeep will make his debut following a strong IPL campaign for Rajasthan Royals earlier this year.
“In consultation with the BCCI Medical Team, Rishabh Pant has been released from the ODI squad. He will join the team ahead of the Test series. No replacement has been sought Axar Patel was not available for selection for the first ODI,” BCCI tweeted.
This year, Pant has put up some strong ODI performances. He has scored 336 runs at an average of 37.33 in 12 games and 10 innings this season with one century, two fifties and a top score of 125*.
His performance in his ODIs in New Zealand, though, was dismal, only managing scores of 15 and 10.
Mohammad Shami, the team’s premier bowler, had previously been disqualified from the series. The experienced pacer was replaced in India’s 17-man team for their three-match ODI series against Bangladesh by Umran Malik, according to the BCCI.
In the opening round of the three-match ODI series, Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bowl against India at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.
The first two ODIs will take place in Dhaka on the 4 and 7, followed by the third game in Chattogram on the 10. A two-Test series follow the ODIs from December 14 to 26.
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Litton Das(c), Anamul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Ebadot Hossain.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Sen.