Though Rohit, Kohli and Rahul are skipping the trip to New Zealand, as many as eight players from the T20 World Cup squad are going: Hardik, Pant, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh have been selected for the T20Is in New Zealand.
“We basically are looking at Prithvi, we’re constantly in touch with Prithvi, he has been doing well. There’s nothing wrong with him at all,” Sharma said. “The thing is – the players who are already playing and those who are performing, they have got their chances. He [Shaw] will definitely get his chance. The selectors are in constant touch with him, talking to him, he is doing well and he will get his chances very soon.”
While R Ashwin is believed to have asked for a break, Sharma did not reveal whether the decision to leave out Dinesh Karthik, the eldest member of the T20 World Cup squad, was a sign that India is moving on from the 37-year old finisher.
In the fast bowling department, Mohammed Siraj and Deepak Chahar come in for the T20Is and ODIs respectively. Mohammed Shami has been given a break to manage his workload, with India scheduled to tour Bangladesh in December for their next World Test Championship assignment.
Shubman Gill is the only uncapped player in the 16-member T20I squad, while the ODI squad features three uncapped players – all fast bowlers – Arshdeep, Kuldeep Sen and Umran Malik.
The presence of both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the white-ball squads meant there was no place for a third wristspinner in Ravi Bishnoi. Washington Sundar, part of both squads, and Shahbaz Ahmed (ODIs) were picked as the allrounders.
India play three T20Is and three ODIs in New Zealand from November 18, five days after the T20 World Cup final. The T20Is will be played in Wellington (November 18), Mount Maunganui (November 20) and Napier (November 22), while the ODIs are in Auckland (November 25), Hamilton (November 27) and Christchurch (November 30).