Indian captain Rohit Sharma and star batsman Virat Kohli are set to miss the first two ODIs against Australia.
The two senior players have been rested for the first two games of the series, although they will return to action in the final ODI.
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In Rohit Sharma’s absence, KL Rahul will lead the Indian team. Along with Sharma and Kohli, Hardik Pandya and India’s Asia Cup star Kuldeep Yadav have also been rested for the first two games.
Why are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli not playing in the first two ODIs against Australia?
“The decision to rest Kohli and Rohit was taken after mutual discussion & consultation as the team wanted them to be fresh mentally and physically for the World Cup,” India coach Rahul Dravid said.
When BCCI chief selector, Ajit Agarkar was asked the same question he had replied almost in the same vein.
“At some stage, the guys need a mental break, not such a bad thing leading up to the tournament. In the third game, everyone will be available to play. We will play our World Cup squad.
“Rohit and Virat have been around forever. Hardik is an important player for us. We want him to manage him. Kuldeep is in great form. It also gives us a chance to look at some of the other guys. That is the thinking. Luckily we got a fair amount of cricket in the Asia Cup. If no, we would have looked at it some other way,” he told reporters.
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Full Indian squad for Australia series
The full Indian squad for the first two ODI matches against Australia.
- KL Rahul (C)
- Shubman Gill
- Ruturaj Gaikwad
- Shreyas Iyer
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Tilak Varma
- Ishan Kishan
- Ravindra Jadeja (VC)
- Washington Sundar
- Shardul Thakur
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Mohammad Shami
- Mohammed Siraj
- R. Ashwin
- Prasidh Krishna.
For the third ODI, India will have a 17-man team which will include 15 players who are part of India’s ODI World Cup squad. Axar Patel’s situation will be assessed while Ashwin and Sundar will be part of the setup.
MORE: India Cricket World Cup squad
When are India playing their first two matches against Australia?
India play the first ODI against Australia on September 22 at the Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium in Mohali and the second match will be held in Indore on September 24.
Who is favorite to win the first ODI India vs Australia series
As per the odds on Dafabet, Australia are slightly ahead of India.
| Teams | Betting odds |
| India | 1.91 |
| Australia | 1.93 |
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