Major Blow

Calf injury rules Rohit Sharma out of New Zealand tour, Agarwal in for ODI series

- Chetan Sharma

India suffered a major setback ahead of the ODI and Test series against New Zealand, with in-form Rohit Sharma ruled out of the remainder of the tour because of a calf injury.

The injury happened during the fifth T20 match on Sunday when Rohit was leading the side. He was on 54 when he was treated on the field by the team’s physio and continued to bat. He was later forced to retire hurt after he reached 60.

According to reports, Mayank Agarwal, who made his ODI debut against the West Indies in December last year, is likely to replace Rohit as the third opener in the ODI set-up along with KL Rahul and Prithvi Shaw. Agarwal was the logical choice in the white-ball format since he was the reserve opener in the side during the home ODI series against the West Indies when Shikhar Dhawan was absent due to knee injury. The Test squad is yet to be officially announced.