Shreyas Iyer ruled out of New Zealand ODIs; Rajat Patidar named replacement 

Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand due to a back injury. The Mumbai-born player has been replaced by Rajat Patidar, who earned his maiden ODI call-up in September 2022.

According to a statement by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the right-handed batter will head to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for assessment and rehabilitation. The statement read:

"Team India batter Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the upcoming 3-match ODI series against New Zealand due to a back injury. He will be heading to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for further assessment and management."

The statement continued:

"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Rajat Patidar as replacement for Shreyas Iyer."

It is to be noted that the player was not included in the squad for the subsequent T20I series against the Blackcaps and will look to recover in time for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy trophy, which begins on February 9.

He has been instrumental at No.4 in the ODI side over the course of the last year. With the top-order batter making merry against Sri Lanka on good batting surfaces, Shreyas was away from the spotlight but managed to make his presence felt by scoring 94 runs across the three-match series, which India won by a 3-0 margin.

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Team India updated squad for New Zealand ODIs after Shreyas Iyer's injury

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik.

Team India are already without the services of KL Rahul and Axar Patel for the series as they were unavailable due to family commitments. The latest injury does put India in a serious conundrum in terms of their middle-order options.

With even Sanju Samson not there, it is likely that Ishan Kishan will assume the glovework and play in the middle order along with Suryakumar Yadav, who was benched for the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka.

India will face New Zealand in the first ODI at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday, January 18. New Zealand are led by Tom Latham in the absence of Kane Williamson and Tim Southee.

Will Shreyas Iyer's absence prove to be a huge blow for Team India? Let us know what you think.

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