27-year-old Navdeep Saini made his ODI debut in the final game of the three-match series against West Indies in Cuttack.
Indian pacer Navdeep Saini made his debut in ODIs during the final game of the three-match series against West Indies in Cuttack. Saini was called in to the side after Deepak Chahar faced an injury after the second ODI at Visakhapatnam. Saini has previously appeared for the national team in five ODIs.
Saini, too, was sidelined due to injury during the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but made a return in the domestic circuit in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He missed India's T20I series against Bangladesh and West Indies.
The 27-year-old pacer impressed with his raw pace, taking three wickets in his debut T20I against West Indies in Lauderhill.
With his ODI debut, Saini became the 229th Indian to play in ODIs for the national team. Mumbai's young all-rounder Shivam Dube also made his debut during the ongoing series against West Indies.
After the Windies registered a comprehensive 8-wicket victory in the first ODI, the hosts made a splendid comeback to secure a 107-run win in the second game. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul slammed centuries before Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant played important cameos to steer India to a strong total of 387 while batting first.
The Indian bowlers restricted Windies to 280 as Kuldeep Yadav shined with his second ODI hat-trick of the career.
The 3rd ODI against West Indies in Cuttack is India's final match of the calendar year. The side will return to action on January 5 when they host Sri Lanka for a three-match T20I series.
