Hamilton: After thrashing the Kiwis 5-0 in the recently concluded T20I series, India began their ODI campaign in New Zealand on Wednesday hoping to continue the same form that they displayed in the shortest format of the game in the one-day format.
However, one of their batting mainstay Rohit Sharma who also is one of their best white-ball batsmen was ruled out of the remainder of the tour with a calf injury.
Thus, in the absence of regular openers Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan, India made an unusual move of handing over the debutant cap to two new openers - Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal.
20-year-old Prithvi Shaw was named in the initial squad for the ODI series after replacing injured Shikhar Dhawan and was slated to open with Rohit Sharma. However, the Indian vice-captain in limited-overs suffered an injury during the 5th T20I in Mount Maunganui on Sunday which consequently ruled him out of the entire tour.
Thus regular Test opener, Mayank Agarwal, was drafted in Rohit's place and made his ODI debut on Wednesday alongside Prithvi Shaw.
This is only the 4th time a pair of Indian openers have made their debut in the same match.
Lokesh Rahul and his Karnataka teammate Karun Nair were the previous Indian pair to have made their ODI debut in the same match. The duo made their debut in Zimbabwe in June 2016.
Both Shaw and Mayank have represented India in Tests with Prithvi playing 2 Test matches for Team India before suffering an injury, Mayank has established himself as one of the premier openers in the longest format of the game.
Skipper Virat Kohli who lost the toss in Hamilton on Wednesday said he is looking forward to see Prithvi and Mayank perform in the ODI format.
"Two debutants, both at the top, Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal make their ODI debuts, pretty exciting times for them. The five guys that are not playing Pandey, Pant, Dube, Saini and Chahal," Virat Kohli said.
