Ajinkya Rahane in line for ODI return against New Zealand

According to reports, the selection committee seems to have discussed the possibility of recalling Ajinkya Rahane to the 50-over fold for the series against New Zealand.

The Men In Blue are slated to play 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is against the Black Caps before the pair clash swords for a two-match Test series. The meeting, which took place on Sunday, was supposed to name the Indian squads for all formats. However, the committee decided to only release the T20I side, which included a return for Rohit Sharma after the opener was rested for the rubber against Sri Lanka.

Additionally, there have been numerous rumours regarding the reason behind the selection committee deferring the naming of the squad, with the Mumbai Mirror reporting that a potential ground could’ve been the recent injury suffered by Prithvi Shaw.

The Mumbaikar, who recently made his comeback after a retrospective doping ban, was in line for a spot in the Test team. However, a shoulder injury in the game in the Ranji Trophy against Karnataka meant that the selectors are having to sweat over his fitness.

As for Rahane, the top-order batsman’s last white-ball appearance for India came at Centurion against South Africa on the 16th of February, 2018. Despite not being a frequent fixture in the Men In Blue’s limited-overs sides, the Indian Test vice-captain boasts a respectable average of 35.26 in 90 ODIs and has notched up 3 hundreds and 24 fifties.