Chennai: Vijay Shankar is all set to replace Hardik Pandya in the ODI squad against Australia as Pandya along with KL Rahul, has been suspended by the BCCI following their inappropriate comments about women in a popular television show recently.
The 27-year old Tamilnadu all-rounder will be the lone replacement in the squad against Australia. Initially, the selectors had picked Mayank Agarwal in place of KL Rahul but since Agarwal is nursing a niggle, the selectors decided to not name any other replacement for the remaining two ODIs against Australia.
However, 2018 Under-19 World Cup star Shubman Gill has earned his maiden call-up in the limited overs squad for the New Zealand tour, in place of Rahul. 20-year-old Shubman Gill is in a good nick of form and has impressed in the domestic matches this year and India A tour with his stellar performances.
The right-handed batsman from Punjab has become the second player from the team led by Prithvi Shaw in World Cup to make it to the Indian team. He has played 36 List A matches and has scored 1529 runs at an average of 47.78. In nine first-class matches, he has scored 1089 runs at an average of 77.78.
Gill has been the man-in-form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season as well, scoring 728 runs in the tournament at an average of 104.00. His highest score of 268 came against Tamilnadu this year.