Rishabh Pant ruled out of New Zealand ODIs; replacement named

India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand after sustaining a side strain during practice.

Pant picked up the injury while batting in the nets ahead of the series opener on Sunday at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that Dhruv Jurel has been named as his replacement and has already joined the squad.

“Pant felt a sudden onset of discomfort in his right lateral abdominal area while batting in the nets during India’s practice session on Saturday afternoon,” the BCCI said in a statement. 

“He was taken for MRI scans immediately, following which the BCCI medical team held detailed discussions with an expert on his clinical and radiological findings. Pant has been diagnosed with a side strain (oblique muscle tear) and has subsequently been ruled out of the ODI series,” the statement added.

Pant’s absence is unlikely to impact India’s first-choice XI, with KL Rahul ahead of him in the pecking order as the designated ODI wicketkeeper-batter.

However, the left-hander had been enjoying a solid run of form, leading Delhi to the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-finals and scoring two half-centuries in six innings.

Jurel, who is yet to make his ODI debut, will serve as cover for Rahul. The Uttar Pradesh batter has impressed in domestic cricket, registering six fifty-plus scores in his last seven List A innings, including two centuries. 

His selection marks a return to form after a lean Test series against South Africa last year.

The ODI series will continue after the first match in Vadodara, with the remaining games scheduled in Rajkot on January 14 and Indore on January 18. 

The teams will then shift focus to a five-match T20I series, beginning in Nagpur on January 21 and concluding in Thiruvananthapuram on January 31, serving as preparation for the T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka in February–March. 

Neither Pant nor Jurel has been included in India’s T20I squad.

India’s updated ODI squad:

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer (vc), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel (wk).