When the selectors sit together on Friday to decide on the India squads for the ODI and T20 series against England, one thing is certain – Virat Kohli will be named the captain and MS Dhoni will be in the side as the wicketkeeper-batsman. The certainties end there, though.
Dhoni to unleash batting powers again
While Kohli is unlikely to be rested, with the selectors, no doubt, keen to give the superstar batsman as many games as possible to lead this India team before the ICC Champions Trophy in England, there should be plenty of players given a break.
India are set to play five more Test matches over the next few months – one against Bangladesh and four against Australia – so R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are candidates to be rested for the limited-overs series against England – if not the whole leg, at least a considerable part of it.
Ashwin and Jadeja sat out the entire ODI series against New Zealand along with Mohammed Shami, another bowler who is vital for India in Test cricket and has been ruled out of this upcoming series with injury.
While Kohli will want a strong team, considering the three ODIs will be the last three one-day internationals the team will play before the Champions Trophy, the selectors, who were given the go ahead by the Lodha Committe after the whole process was put in doubt on Friday, also need to make sure India's key bowlers are not overworked.
There are a lot of injuries to deal with as well, with Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma on the mend, while KL Rahul has had a few fitness issues. Having made his return to the Test team, though, Rahul is likely to be the chief opener for the matches against England alongside, most likely, Shikhar Dhawan, another one who has had injury problems of late.
Spinner Jayant Yadav, the find of the Test series against England, missed the fifth match through injury, while Axar Patel has been ruled out with a finger problem. Shahbaz Nadeem, coming off a solid domestic campaign, and Kuldeep Yadav could be considered.
Karun Nair is a candidate for selection in the squad after his terrific triple hundred in the fifth Test, while Manish Pandey will hope to make the most of his chance this time around, having disappointed against the Kiwis. Kedar Jadhav, with his ability to chip in with the ball, should keep his place, while Rishabh Pant is another player the selectors might look at, with his destructive powers at the top a big positive – also learning the art of wicketkeeping from the great man Dhoni might not be such a bad thing.
The likes of Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir are unlikely to feature, with India looking to the future and players who are likely to feature in the 2019 World Cup.
