Ravichandran Ashwin, Jadeja Ignored For Third Time In A Row 

Mumbai: Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were ignored by the BCCI selection committee for the third consecutive time in the ODI series against New Zealand. The players haven't played for India after the Test series in Sri Lanka two months ago.

The BCCI announced the 15-member squad for the One-Day tournament with Kiwis starting from October 22. Shikar Dhawan found place in the team. Speedster Thakur, who was for ODI series with Australia, is now replaced with bowler Umesh Yadav for the series with Kiwis. Pacer Mohammad Shami too failed to find place in the team.

The full squad is:

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur. Meanwhile, New Zealand cricket captain Kane Williamson praised Hardik Pandya's role in Indian team.

Exciting all-rounder Hardik Pandya is a vital cog lending balance to the Indian side, said Williamson on Sunday. "Certainly in the last year or two, he's been playing outstandingly well. We saw it in the IPL. And even in the series against us, he bowled very well. Now, we're seeing him come along with the bat and making contributions that any team would be pretty happy to have from their all-rounder," said Williamson ahead of the limited over series against the hosts.

The series comprises three ODIs and as many T20 Internationals. "He's a very vital player for the Indian side in terms of a fast bowling all-rounder that I suppose in these conditions, it accommodates the spinners so much, but to have a fast bowling all-rounder that bowls good pace and hits it out of the park is always exciting to have," added Williamson.

Pandya has played an important role in recent times in the limited overs games for India and in the ODI series won 4 -1 by India, he scored 222 runs at just over 55 per innings with 83 as his highest score, besides taking six wickets with his brisk medium pace.

Incidentally, the 24-year-old Baroda cricketer had made his ODI debut against the Kiwis at Dharamsala when they visited last year and his career graph has been on an upswing since then.

His performance against Australia has impressed former captain Ian Chappell so much that he wrote in his newspaper column today that Pandya "is potentially the the fast-bowling allrounder India have craved since Kapil Dev retired." The Kiwis are scheduled to start the tour with two practice games at the Cricket Club of India here on October 17 and 19 before plunging into the ODI series with the first game commencing at the Wankhede Stadium on October 22.

They will play three T20Is after the conclusion of the ODI series, with the last one scheduled on November 7 at Thiruvananthapuram.— (PTI)