M Shahrukh Khan and his state-mate, orthodox left-arm spinner Ravi Srinivas Sai Kishore, will be joining the Indian white-ball team as stand-by players for the white-ball series against the West Indies. The development, is more of a precautionary measure in Covid-19 times when there is every possibility of a player from the main squad testing positive."Yes, Shahrukh and Sai Kishore have been called as stand bys for the Windies series. They will also enter the bubble with main team players," a senior BCCI official confirmed the development to PTI.
The limited overs series starts in Ahmedabad on February 6 with a three-match ODI rubber followed by three T20 Internationals in Kolkata.For Sai Kishore, this is the second opportunity in an Indian team set-up after he was part of the net bowlers' group during a tour of Sri Lanka under Rahul Dravid last year.Shahrukh, who was in contention to make it to the main squad, has been in the news this season for scoring runs at critical stages, including a last ball six against Karnataka, to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final.It was the same match where his colleague Sai Kishore got three wickets.Similarly, against the same opponents in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final, he smashed 79 off 39 balls and his contribution in the final against HP was 42 off 21 balls.
