Suresh Raina ruled out of 3rd India-New Zealand ODI

Mohali: Suresh Raina will miss the third India-New Zealand which is to be played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Sunday.

The southpaw, who was ruled out of the first ODI in Dharamsala as he was recovering from a bout of viral fever, did not participate in the second game in New Zealand as he required more time to recover.

While there were hopes that he would be a part of the team in the third ODI, it is learnt that he is not with the Indian side in Mohali.

Following Amit Mishra’s pre-match conference, the media contingent, present at the venue asked about Raina’s availability. Nishant Jeet Arora, Team India’s media manager, was heard saying: “(Suresh) Raina is not here with the team. It is a 14-member squad."

The Uttar Pradesh cricketer, who was picked for the first three ODIs of the five-match series, was looking forward to feature in his first ODI since October 2015 as India took on New Zealand in Dharamsala. However, he missed out playing in that game and the New Delhi match that followed.

Raina had batted for about 45 minutes at the nets on Tuesday ahead of the second OD but the Indian team management confirmed that he was still not 100 per cent match fit to play in the second game of the five-ODI series.

Had Raina been fit for the Feroz Shah Kotla match, it would have been a selection conundrum between him and Keder Jadhav.

The southpaw was dropped for the ODIs in Australia and the limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe earlier this year besides the two-match T20 series against the West Indies in USA.

He has not had time in the middle since the Duleep Trophy where his scores read 52, 35 and 90.

Raina led Uttar Pradesh in the team's Ranji Trophy opener against Madhya Pradesh last week but did not come out to bat.

Uttar Pradesh ended up suffering an innings and 64 run defeat at the hands of Madhya Pradesh.