Mumbai: Suresh Raina on Thursday staged a comeback for the first three ODI against New Zealand while three senior players including off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami were rested keeping a gruelling season in mind.

Off-spinner Jayant Yadav and left-arm spinner Axar Patel replaced Ashwin and Jadeja while Dhawal Kulkarni came in place of Shami.

“We gave Raina a break during the Zimbabwe tour. But with Jadeja, Ashwin and Shami rested, we needed some experience. Although it’s a short term solution. While selecting Raina, apart from his batting experience, we also considered his bowling. He has scored runs in Duleep Trophy,” chairman of selectors MSK Prasad told mediapersons today.

While names of Mayank Agarwal and Gautam Gambhir were discussed, the chairman said that Mandeep is being groomed as an ODI opener.
Hardik Pandya also made a comeback after being dropped during Zimbabwe and the tour of United States.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee met earlier on Thursday to pick the India Cricket Team for the first three ODIs of the five-match Paytm ODI Trophy.

The team is as follows:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav.

Fixtures: