Captain Shubman Gill, vice-captain Shreyas Iyer and pacer Mohammed Siraj have made a comeback to the ODI squad for the three-match series against New Zealand, starting in Vadodara on January 11.

Shreyas’s availability is subject to fitness clearance from the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, the BCCI said in a release after a virtual selection committee meeting on Saturday afternoon.

Both Gill and Shreyas had missed the series against South Africa because of injuries and their return meant that there was no place for Ruturaj Gaikwad, who smashed a century batting at No.4 against the Proteas. Tilak Varma and Dhruv Jurel have also been omitted from the squad which played in the last series.

Shreyas is learnt to have been cleared to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy and is expected to participate in the last two group matches for Mumbai on Tuesday and Thursday. A call on his fitness for the ODIs will be taken after the two domestic matches.

He had gone through all drills and match simulation sessions pain-free at the Centre of Excellence.

The other specialist batters in the 16-member squad are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul.

As expected, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have been rested because of workload management.

“He (Pandya) has not been cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in a match and considering the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is being managed,” the BCCI said in a statement.

Pandya smashed five sixes and a boundary in an over during his 133 off 92 balls for Baroda against Vidarbha in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Saturday.

Siraj didn’t play the white-ball series against South Africa, but with Bumrah rested, his inclusion was a formality.

But Mohammed Shami’s exclusion means that the doors have been shut on him for good. He had been omitted from India’s red-ball plans
earlier and Saturday’s developments prove that the 35-year-old fast bowler doesn’t feature in the selectors’ scheme of things.

It is understood that the common refrain among the Ajit Agarkar-led panel is that Shami’s fitness is not up to the international standards and they do not wish to look back.

Rishabh Pant was expected to stir up a storm at the meeting, but the selectors were unanimous on his inclusion, keeping in mind the continuity factor. KL Rahul is the first-choice wicketkeeper in the 50-over format.

The selectors do not wish to look beyond Pant as a reserve keeper considering his dynamic talent. He can also play as a specialist batter, if the need arises.

With Jaiswal already in the squad as an opener, there was no need to include another in Ishan Kishan. The selectors are focusing on Ishan solely as a T20 player at the moment.

Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy are the all-rounders with Kuldeep Yadav being the sole wrist spinner. Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh and Siraj form the seam attack.