India have started their tour of Australia on a high note, comprehensively defeating Western Australia XI in the two warm-up games.
The visitors won the T20 encounter by 74 runs riding on two fifties from Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. MS Dhoni & Co won the ODI by 64 runs on Saturday. Rohit Sharma and Manish Pandey scored a half century each.
Team India are sporting a number of new faces in this upcoming limited over series in the form of left-arm seamer Barinder Sran, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Manish Pandey.
Sran impressed the captain in the first warm-up game by claiming a couple of scalps in his spell of four overs. He proved to be economical, too. Sran might be handed his ODI cap in the first match of the series against Australia at the WACA Stadium in Perth on Tuesday.
"He is a bowler with a lot of potential. He has been pretty impressive in the two games he has played. Being a left-armer, he gives us the added advantage. And we have somebody whom we can groom to become a good bowler in the future for us," India bowling coach Bharath Arun told reporters in Perth. "If he has got the ability then why not [play him]? It is a bilateral series and we have to try out the potential bowlers that we have. He has been impressive so far."
Australia on the other hand have left out their star all-rounder Shane Watson and off-spinner Nathan Lyon. They have roped in a couple of uncapped players in the form of Joel Paris and Scott Boland. Both seamers have done well in the domestic league and have been in red hot form in the ongoing edition of the Big Bash League. Kane Richardson has also impressed selectors, and thus these three seamers will be ably assisting Josh Hazlewood and James Faulkner.
David Warner will miss half of limited-over series as he and his wife Candice are expecting their second child. Shaun Marsh is likely to replace him at the top of the order.
The year 2015 has not been as fruitful as India thought it would be. They could not win a single ODI series in the calendar year. Things have changed now, and the Men in Blue have started their tour of Down Under pretty well with two back-to-back wins over Western Australia XI.
Squads for the ODI series:
India: MS Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Rishi Dhawan, Barinder Sran.
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith (C), Shaun Marsh, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Kane Richardson, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Joel Paris.
