The Indian selectors have named Mumbai opener Shreyas Iyer and Hyderabad pacer Mohammad Siraj received their maiden T20I call-ups for the three-match T20I series against the Kiwis.
Ashish Nehra has also been named in the squad, who will be a part of the squad only for the first T20I against the Kiwis as he retires at the Feroze Shah Kotla.
Iyer has been very consistent in the domestic circuit and also for the ‘A’ side while Siraj rose to the scene during the IPL this season as he proved to be a handy bet for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
In terms of T20s, the youngster has notched up 1289 runs at an average of 26.85, the opener cum no.3 batsman has been in stellar form in domestic cricket. In the recent match between India A and New Zealand A, Iyer showcased his skills as he played a crucial knock of 90 at Visakhapatnam. He was also the second highest run-getter for Delhi Daredevils in the 2017 IPL, compiling 338 runs at an average of 33.8.
On the other hand, the Hyderabad pacer Siraj had a wonderful IPL season by picking up 10 scalps at 21.2. The pacer, known for his yorkers and control has bagged 26 wickets at a healthy average of 18.73 in the shortest format of the game.
The selectors once again left out Ashwin and Jadeja as they continue to keep faith in Kuldeep Yadav, Chahal and Axar Patel.
Squad for the T20I series: Virat Kohli (c) Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra (1st T20I), Mohammad Siraj.