The Indian selection panel is considering the possibilities of resting regulars including vice-captain Rohit Sharma from the upcoming ODI against Australia in order to give the reserves as much game time as possible before the ODI World Cup in England, starting May-end.
Regular captain Virat Kohli meanwhile is expected to return to the squad but just like the New Zealand series, he might not play the latter half of the five-match series. Rohit and Kohli might take turns in the five-match series as resting both of them together will not only weaken the Indian top-order but will also force MS Dhoni to don the captain’s hat once again.
It is understood that the selectors want to prepare back-up options for the opening position, middle-order and spin department for the World Cup, reported Sportstar. The ODI series starting from March 3, is the last opportunity to find the missing pieces of India’s final 15 for the World Cup.
Ajinkya Rahane, who has not played an ODI since January last year, is expected to get a look in and so will KL Rahul, who played only three ODIs in 2018 but was originally the first-choice as a back-up of Rohit and Dhawan at the top of the order. Unlike Pandya, Rahul was not sent to New Zealand despite BCCI revoking their suspension provisionally for an off the field controversy. This could be both Rahul and Rahane’s last opportunity to confirm their tickets for the World Cup.
“Of course, Rahul is definitely part of the conversation, but we expect him to get runs if he has to make a comeback,” MSK Prasad told ESPNCricinfo. “He has definitely failed in red-ball cricket, but you cannot look at the red-ball form in white-ball cricket. That is what we as selectors ought to consider.”
Apart from the openers, the core fast bowlers Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar too will rotate as India continues their search for the fourth seamer. Wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal too might miss part of the series in order to manage their workload before the World Cup.
Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik are confirmed to play as specialist batsmen while MS Dhoni will take the gloves behind the stumps.
The likes of Vijay Shankar and Shubman Gill are also in contention for a spot in the middle-order.
Interestingly, India head coach Ravi Shastri had hinted after the New Zealand ODI series that the team management is mulling resting the likes of Mohammed Shami and Rohit Sharma for the Australia ODI series. The experiments, however, might not be that too much in the two-match T20I series preceding the ODI series.
The India-Australia limited overs series starts from February 24 at Visakhapatnam.