India ODI squad for New Zealand 2016: 5 Players who were unlucky to miss out

India announced their ODI squad to face New Zealand in the five-match ODI series that starts on October 16 and it has plenty of surprises. While the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were rested keeping the long home season in mind, Suresh Raina made his way back into the ODI squad.

MS Dhoni will captain the side against Zimbabwe which largely has the usual suspects, there are still some surprises and players who perhaps should have been included instead of the ones that were picked.

Here are 5 players who were unlucky to miss out:

Robin Uthappa

Despite being one of the most consistent batsmen in the IPL in the last two years, Robin Uthappa has once again been overlooked for the ODI squad. While the 30-year-old was given a long rope at the start of his career and didn’t perform exceptionally well, he has found a new lease of life, of late.

The 30-year-old might not have played an ODI for India since July 2015 but has been in sparkling form in the IPL as the opener for Kolkata Knight Riders. With injuries to KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan, there is no doubt that Uthappa could have found a way into the squad to face Zimbabwe.

However, the selectors have chosen to overlook him in favour of Mandeep Singh, who played in the limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe earlier this year.

Kuldeep Yadav

Having rested Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for the first three matches of the ODI series, India were looking for another spinner to replace them in the XI, with Amit Mishra all but certain to take one of their spots in the XI.

While there was place for Jayant Yadav, the off-spinner who was drafted in as a replacement for Ishant Sharma for the ongoing Test series, Kuldeep Yadav, the chinaman who impressed in the Duleep Trophy couldn’t find a place in the side.

Although Jayant Yadav is the more experienced of the pair, being five years Kuldeep senior’s and having a lot more matches under his belt, the variety that Kuldeep provides is something that the Indian selectors could have thought about. Unfortunately for the 21-year-old, he didn’t make it this time but he still has plenty of time on his hands..

Ambati Rayudu

Ever since he made his ODI debut for India in the tour of Zimbabwe in 2013, Ambati Rayudu has always been the man of the sidelines who has been drafted into the squad if there is an injury or to an inconsequential B-team that is invariably sent to Zimbabwe every time India tour them.

And it is not as though the 31-year-old middle order batsman hasn’t proven himself either. In this year’s tour of Zimbabwe, he crossed 1,000 ODI runs for India and is averaging an impressive 50.23 from 34 ODIs that he has played.

While he doesn’t have age on his side, the fact that he has performed whenever he has been given a chance means that he would be disappointed with not being given a consistent run in the ODI side.

Yuzvendra Chahal

After impressing in the limited-overs series against Zimbabwe in June and finishing as India A’s second-leading wicket taker in the recently concluded Quadrangular series down under, Yuzvendra Chahal would probably be the most disappointed of the lot that weren’t picked for the New Zealand series.

While the likes of Manish Pandey and Dhawal Kulkarni who topped the run-scoring and wicket-taking charts for India in the Quadrangular series in Australia made the squad, the leg-spinner didn’t make the cut. Another reason why the 26-year-old from Haryana would have been disappointed is the resting of India’s spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

With the first-choice spin duo rested and having already played for India earlier in the year, Chahal would have fancied his chances of getting picked, however, he didn’t as he lost his place to Jayant Yadav with Amit Mishra, another leg spinner already in the squad.

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh’s omission from the squad to face New Zealand is perhaps a sign that the World Cup winning all-rounder is no longer a part of the team’s plans as they look forward to next year’s Champions Trophy in England.

While it is true that he hasn’t played an ODI since December 2013 against South Africa, the fact that he was called up for a fitness Test in Bengaluru last month suggested that he was in line for an ODI recall after having already been drafted into the T20I squad earlier in the year against Australia and then again for the World T20.

The 34-year-old along with Gautam Gambhir was also reportedly spoken to by Indian coach Anil Kumble last month during the Duleep Trophy about the the possibility of a comeback to the national side. While Gambhir has made it into the Test squad, the all-rounder hasn’t made it into the ODI squad for the first three matches against New Zealand.