India vs England: Suryakumar Yadav earns ODI call-up, KKR's Prasidh Krishna also picked

Suryakumar Yadav, who scored his maiden fifty in fourth T20 against England, has been picked for the three-match ODI series against England beginning in Pune on March 13.

Suryakumar Yadav en route to scoring a brilliant 57 off 31 balls. (Photo: BCCI)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced an 18-man squad for the three-match ODI series against England beginning in Pune on March 13. Mumbai's Suryakumar Yadav, who scored a brilliant maiden fifty in the fourth T20 on Thursday (March 18) night, has earned a call-up into the ODI squad along with Karnataka paceman Prasidh Krishna.

TEAM - Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Shreyas, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Krunal Pandya, W Sundar, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Md. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur.

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 19, 2021

Yadav, who made his debut in the second T20 against England but was dropped from the third, got his first opportunity to bat in fourth T20 and made the most of it by smashing a 28-ball half-century. Prasidh Krishna was one of the star performers in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, taking 14 wickets in seven games.

Apart from these two, Baroda all-rounder Krunal Pandya was also rewarded for his fine performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year. 

Apart from these two, Baroda all-rounder Krunal Pandya was also rewarded for his fine performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year. There was however, no place in the squad for the two leading run-scorers in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year -- Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal. 

Vijay Hazare Trophy champions Mumbai captain Shaw scored a record 827 runs in 8 games with four centuries at an average of over 165 and a strike-rate of 138. Padikkal was not far behind, scoring 737 runs in 7 games with four hundreds and three fifties.

Krunal Pandya managed 388 runs in five matches with two hundreds and two fifties and a top-score of 133 not out. Stupmer-batsman Rishabh Pant and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar are back in the side and so is Washington Sundar, who played his only ODI in December 2017.

Bhuvneshwar, who has done well in the ongoing T20 series, is set to play his first ODI since August 2019. In the absence of the rested Jasprit Bumrah, who recently got married, and injured Mohammad Shami, the UP pacer will lead the pace attack.

Left-arm pacer T Natarajan has regained fitness and therefore finds a place in the squad following an impressive outing in Australia.

India squad:

Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur