India Announce Squad For ODI Series Against Australia; R Ashwin Returns, KL Rahul Named Captain For First Two Fixtures

In what could be a hint of things to come with an injury to Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin finds his name in the squad.

Ravichandran Ashwin has made an entry into the team's ODI World Cup squad for the Australia side.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced India's squad for the three-match ODI series against Australia beginning on September 22. While senior members of the side like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been rested for the first two matches with KL Rahul being named the captain, in what could be a hint of things to come with an injury to Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin finds his name in the squad.

Even though Axar has been included in the team for the third ODI which will see Rohit returning as captain and Kohli also returning to the team, his inclusion is subject to him clearing a fitness test. Notably, the left-arm spinning all-rounder had picked up an injury while batting during India's final Super Four match against Bangladesh.

Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav were the other regular members of the team who were rested for the first two fixtures. Other than Ashwin, Washington Sundar was the other off-spinner who was picked in the team for all the three ODIs.

India's squad for first two ODIs vs Australia:
KL Rahul (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja (Vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

India's squad for final ODI vs Australia:
Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, (Vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel*, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj

*Axar Patel's selection in the third and final ODI will be subject to fitness.

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 18, 2023

The first match will be played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium (PCA) in Mohali while the action will shift to Indore on Sunday (September 24). The final match of the series will be played in Rajkot on September 27. India will then play the ICC World Cup warm-up fixtures before taking on Australia again in their first match of the World Cup at the MA Chidambamra Stadium Chennai on October 8.