Team India have drafted in Shahrukh Khan and Sai Kishore as the stand-by players for the upcoming white-ball series against West Indies.
The hosts have already named the 18-member squad for the three ODIs and T20Is each. Shahrukh was in reckoning to receive his maiden India call-up but the selectors opted to go with Deepak Hooda over him in the ODIs.
According to a report in Times of India, BCCI has now added Shahrukh and Sai Kishore as the stand-by options.
Confirming the development, a source said that the BCCI decided to include the Tamil Nadu duo considering the third wave of COVID-19 in the country.
“The BCCI wants to have all its bases covered. With the third wave still persisting, the Board cannot take a chance and Shahrukh and Sai Kishore have been added to the squad. Sai Kishore will be a good handy bowler at the nets too," TOI quoted a source.
The latest development means that the Tamil Nadu team will need to look for the duo’s replacement for the upcoming Ranji Trophy. Besides Shahrukh and Sai Kishore, the state side will also miss the services of Washington Sundar, who is part of India’s ODI and T20I squads for the West Indies series, starting February 6.
“Once the West Indies series would have ended, Washington would have been available. So the management was okay to play the first couple of matches with 19 players. Now the team composition might change with both Shahrukh and Sai missing. A final decision will be taken in the next two days," the source said.
While the white-ball series against West Indies is due to begin on February 6, the postponed Ranji Trophy is likely to get underway from February 12 or 13.
The report stated that BCCI is likely to keep the venues intact as Chennai is expected to host the Plate matches.
“When the initial phase was planned, Chennai was supposed to host Plate matches. BCCI are likely to keep the schedule intact. The knockout phase starts in June and it is the start of the monsoon in the country. However, Chennai doesn’t get much rain during that phase. So BCCI is likely to schedule the knockout phase in Chennai," the source said.
(With TOI inputs)
