'Yorker King' Natarajan added to ODI squad; Ishant Sharma ruled out for Tests vs Australia

Hours ahead of the first ODI, young quickie T Natarajan has been named in the ODI squad as a last-minute inclusion while veteran pacer Ishant Sharma had been ruled out of the Test series in Australia. The 'Yorker King's' last-minute inclusion comes after fellow pacer Navdeep Saini complained of a back spasm, forcing the All-India Senior Selection Committee to name Natarajan as a back-up option. Meanwhile, the BCCI also informed that Ishant Sharma was ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar trophy despite recovering completely from his side strain injury in the IPL 2020. 

BCCI also provided an update on Rohit Sharma's fitness, revealing that the star batter was undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA and that he will be next assessed on December 11 - confirming what skipper Virat Kohli had said earlier about Rohit Sharma's inclusion. The apex body also stated that Rohit Sharma's inclusion in the Border-Gavaskar trophy will be determined only after the fitness assessments. Further, the BCCI also revealed that the Mumbai Indians captain had to travel back to Mumbai after the 
IPL to attend to his ailing father and that he has now received clearance to travel to the NCA to begin his rehabilitation. 

READ | Virat Kohli Addresses Rohit's Inclusion In Squad, Says 'playing The Waiting Game'

T Natarajan included in ODI squad

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BCCI provides update on Rohit Sharma

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'Lack of clarity': Virat Kohli

Answering media queries online ahead of the ODI series, Kohli said Rohit was said to be unavailable before the selection committee meeting earlier this month.

"Before the selection meeting, we got a mail that he is unavailable, that he has picked up an injury during the IPL. It said that the pros and cons of the injury were explained to him and he understood and he was unavailable," Kohli said.

"After that, he played in the IPL and we all thought he would be on that flight to Australia and we had no information on why he is not traveling with us. There has been no information, there has been a lack of clarity. We have been playing the waiting game," the Indian captain further added.

Can India rediscover their rhythm in the 50-overs format?

Team India will be seen in action for the first time in almost nine months when they lock horns with the five-time world champions at the Sydney Cricket Ground this Friday. The Men In Blue had suffered a 3-0 whitewash in New Zealand earlier this year and they would be hoping to rediscover their rhythm in the 50-overs format by getting the better of the Aaron Finch-led side in their own backyard.

READ | 'Look At His Record': Sunil Gavaskar Explains Why Kohli's Absence Will Be A Relief For Aus

India’s ODI squad 

Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan.