5 surprises from the limited over squad selected

The Indian team for the limited-overs leg of the tour to Australia, and New Zealand was announced and it had several surprises in store for us.

India will a play three-match ODI series against the Aussies after the completion of ongoing Test series the third of which will start on the Boxing day in Melbourne which proves to be another humdinger. The team then travel to New Zealand where they are to play only limited overs cricket.

India’s ODI squad to tour Australia and New Zealand

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami

India’s T20I squad to tour New Zealand

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed.

Now we look at the five surprises out of the squad that has been selected for both the tours across formats.

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#5 Umesh Yadav's exclusion from the ODI squad

Umesh Yadav

While it is no surprise he is not part of the T20 squad, but the fact he is constantly getting dropped and then selected is tough to understand.

He has improved a great deal as far as the white ball cricket is concerned but he has not been given a consistent run in the ODIs in recent times as others to prove himself in the shorter format of the game.

One thing that could have been against him is the fact that Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are selected, and the recent entrant Khaleel Ahmed has done well in the few opportunities that he got at the highest level.

#4 The likes of Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar being overlooked

Washington Sundar

Shreyas Iyer must be disappointed that he is not getting any chances due to the packed Indian batting order. He had done well in South Africa with the bat but had not played for the country ever since.

He got dropped from ODI squad even though he did well in the previous series that he had played and was picked only for T20 squads. He travelled with the team for T20 leg in Australia but failed to get a game and subsequently not picked for this tour.

Washington Sundar like Shreyas Iyer didn't get a single game as the older Pandya brother being preferred ahead of all-rounder from Tamil Nadu. Both Iyer and Sundar are young in their careers and will their fair due as time progresses. With less amount of time left before the world cup, they could have been overlooked.

#3 Manish Pandey dropped from all the squads

Manish Pandey

The biggest surprise was the omission of the talented Manish Pandey. Sure he didn't perform as much as the team expected out of him but one has to feel sorry for him as he didn't enough chances like some others have got in the past.

The first Indian centurion in the IPL still has age on his side but his world cup dreams seem to be all but over with this selection. They could have made use of his recent form where he shined for India A team and proving his worth in domestic circuit.

One can't rule out his comeback either but this is a huge setback for his World Cup dreams at least for now. He is a great talent but lack of consistency has turned out to be a detriment in his career and he has been in and out of the national team.

#2 Mahendra Singh Dhoni included again in the T20 team

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

When MS Dhoni was left out of the T20 squad to face Australia last month, it seemed as if his career in the shortest format of the game for India is all but over. But selectors sprung a surprise by including him in the team to face the Kiwi challenge just after the completion of Australia tour. He has not had much match practice and hasn't played a game since the home series against the West Indies.

The reason that can be said about his inclusion in the team is that he needs game time before the all-important world cup which is not that far away. With India set to play only limited overs cricket before the big tournament, Dhoni will have to be featured in most of the games that India plays. Hope he gets into best of forms in Australia and New Zealand.

#1 Rishabh Pant not getting picked for the ODI teams to play Australia and New Zealand

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant was given a chance to play in the white ball cricket when he was selected for the home series against West Indies and it looked like he would be given a long rope. He featured only in two ODI's so far and the reason behind his exclusion was his lack to make most of his opportunity given to him.

He was seen by the selectors to be a candidate for the troublesome No.4 Slot in the ODI's as he is capable of dominating the middle overs but with Ambati Rayudu almost sealing his place as a potential no. 4 and Dinesh Karthik making his much-deserved return once again may have prompted the team management to overlook Rishabh Pant for the ODI series across both tours.