IND vs NZ | Virat Kohli confirms ODI debut for Prithvi Shaw, reveals KL Rahul's batting position

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Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday confirmed that young Prithvi Shaw is all set to make his debut in white-ball cricket and will open the innings against New Zealand in first ODI on Wednesday in Hamilton. BCCI also named the replacement of Rohit Sharma in ODIs after the vice-captain injured his calf during the fifth T20I. Test specialist Mayank Agarwal has been named his replacement. 

On the eve of first ODI, Kohli also revealed the batting position of KL Rahul in the ODI series.

“It is unfortunate that Rohit cannot be part of the ODI series, the impact he has had is there for everyone to see. We do not have any ODI tournaments to look up to, so it is ideal for him to get recovered. In ODI cricket, Prithvi is definitely going to start, KL will play in the middle-order. We want him to get accustomed to keep and play in the middle,” Kohli told reporters ahead of the first ODI.

Rahul opened the innings in the recently concluded T20I series against New Zealand, but in ODIs with Kohli want the 27-year-old to settle himself in the middle-order. As when senior openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma it will be difficult for Rahul to play at the top.

"In ODIs, we played a really hard-fought series against Australia, we lost the first match, but then came back to win the series 2-1. We will take a lot of confidence from that series, we will try to play positive cricket. We have to believe in our own plans, we know that New Zealand will not give up and we need to be vary of that,” Kohli said.

India thrashed New Zealand 5-0 in the five-match T20I series to achieve the rare feat and are very confident going into the three-match ODI series.

“The average of this team is 27, we should be fielding way better than we are. The fielding standard in the last series was not good from either side. In T20s, it can happen as you can get nervous. In ODIs we have had some bad fielding experiences, you do not expect it. I think it is about taking all three skills seriously,” he added.

New Zealand will also be missing Kane Williamson as also pacers Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson. Kohli said ODIs this year are all about opportunities to different players across both sides.

"Quite surprising (that Williamson is missing) because he said he felt better. But I know with the AC joint (left shoulder), I’ve had it as well. Unless you get into the action, it’s very difficult to make a judgement of how much pain you feel. Especially for a batsman, if the shoulder is not right, it can hurt you.

"So I’m sure he’s not in a shape to take the field. As I said, one-day games this year is all about whoever gets the opportunity what they can do in the team combination and not necessarily about whether the chances of winning or losing wary or not. That’s what we are looking at as well," said the India captain.

Kohl said Rohit's absence doesn't hamper the team's preparations as there are not many ODI series lined up in the year of T20 World Cup.

"I understand it’s an unfortunate situation that Rohit can’t be a part of this series. When you talk about one-day cricket and T20 cricket and Test cricket now, he’s one guy who’s always on the list first. But the thing is that we don’t have any one-day tournaments to look forward to.

"It’s if anything an ideal time for him to go away and rectify this as soon as he can and come back. He played the T20I series, so from the team’s balance point of view heading into the World Cup year, it doesn’t really hamper the combination as far as the T20s are concerned," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)