Indian batsman Suresh Raina, who had made a comeback to the ODI side after full one year, has been ruled out of the first ODI against NZ at Dharamsala on Sunday. According to the reports, the left-hand batsman has been dropped due to viral fever.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a statement said, “The BCCI Medical team has confirmed that Suresh Raina, who is recovering from a bout of viral fever, is ruled out of the first ODI against New Zealand. There will be no replacement in the team.”
The opening match of the ODI series against New Zealand could prove a comeback match for Suresh Raina, who was out of the team since October 2015. He was dropped for the ODIs in Australia and the limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe earlier this year along with the two-match T20 series against West Indies in USA.
Raina, who recently played in the Duleep Trophy scored 52. 35 and 90 runs. He also led the team of Uttar Pradesh against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy, in which he did not come to bat and eventually Uttar Pradesh had to face a loss by an innings and 64 runs by the hands of Madhya Pradesh.
India has already won the Test series against New Zealand 3-0, the first ever clean sweep to New Zealand by India.
By Prajatk K
