The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Indian team for the first three one-day internationals against Australia on Sunday, September 10. All eyes were on R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who were rested for the India-Sri Lanka ODIs, and the selectors have done the same for the Australia series as well.
"The team for the three ODIs against Australia has been selected in line with the rotation policy of the board and accordingly R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested," chairman of selectors Prasad said.
Both Ashwin and Jadeja have not been included in the 16-man squad while seamers Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami, who were not part of the India-Sri Lanka limited overs series have been included. The omission of fast bowler Shardul Thakur is the only change from the team, which defeated Sri Lanka 5-0.
Read: What is the 'truth' behind Yuvraj's exclusion?
However, there are no major changes in the batting line-up, and Yuvraj Singh, as expected, has once again being ignored for the mega series. The likes of KL Rahul and Manish Pandey have been retained, which shows that the BCCI is keeping their eye on the ICC 2019 World Cup. The BCCI is looking to adopt a rotation policy, trying to rest players as well.
India are set to take on Australia for a five-match ODI and three T20Is, which will last for almost a month. The first ODI is set to take place on September 17 and the last match (T20) of the tour is scheduled for October 13.
The visiting team arrived on Friday, September 8, and the limited overs series is expected to be a cracker, with both teams known for their world-class players.
Virat Kohli-led India will go into this series with an impressive showing in Sri Lanka, where they beat the island nation in all matches in all the three formats.
However, Australia are a different breed altogether and will test India mentally and physically during their India stay. Australia had beaten Indian in their first game of the four-match series in India earlier this year but eventually lost the series 1-2.
India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
