India vs West Indies: Shahrukh Khan & R Sai Kishore to join as Team India back-ups

A senior BCCI official said to PTI, “Yes Shahrukh and Sai Kishore have been called as standbys for the Windies series. They will also enter the bubble with main team players.”

Tamil Nadu players, Masood Shahrukh Khan and Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore will be joining the Indian white-ball team as stand-by for the upcoming six-match series against West Indies starting from February 6.

Both the players are the rising T20 sensation who had played a huge part in Tamil Nadu’s victorious campaign and their selection is more of a precautionary measure amid a pandemic when there are chances of a player from the main squad testing positive for the virus.

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A senior BCCI official said to PTI, “Yes Shahrukh and Sai Kishore have been called as standbys for the Windies series. They will also enter the bubble with main team players.”

For the slow left-arm orthodox, Sai Kishore, this is the second opportunity in an Indian team set-up after he was in the net bowler’s group during the tour of Sri Lanka under Rahul Dravid last year.

Whereas, Sharukh Khan was in contention to make it to the main squad, has been in the news this season for scoring runs at critical times, especially hitting a six in the last ball against Karnataka to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final. It was the same match where his fellow Sai Kishore had taken three wickets.

In the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinal, Shahrukh made 79 off 39 balls and his contribution in the final against HP was 42 off 21 balls.

It might take time for him to play for the main squad as Coach, Rahul Dravid, and Captain, Rohit Sharma will give enough opportunities to players who are above him in the pecking order of finishers.

While Sai Kishore to join more as a net bowler with Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel in the set-up.