Choice between Khaleel Ahmed & Jaydev Unadkat for Australia ODIs

The selectors will have a lot to ponder about when they sit down to pick the India squad for the upcoming T20I and ODI series against Australia.  The series will begin with a T20I on February 24. After the two T20Is, the five-match ODI series will begin on March 2 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium (Jamtha) in Nagpur will host the second ODI on the 5th.

The third ODI will take place at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi on March 8. The Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali will host the penultimate ODI on the 10th. The series will conclude with the final ODI at the iconic Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on 13 March.

The series will be India’s last international assignment before the ICC World Cup in England and Wales. So the series will provide the Men in Blue with the final opportunity to carry out the experiments and fine-tune all the areas.

According to PTI, selecting players for two spots will be the major task when MSK Prasad and his colleague select the team. One slot will be of left-arm pacer with Jaydev Unadkat and Khaleel Ahmed being in contention. The series against Australia will also be an indicator as to who among Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik will play in the World Cup as a specialist batsman-cum-second-wicketkeeper.

KL Rahul is also in contention as the back-up opener after a couple of good innings for India A against England Lions in the two unofficial Tests. Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, is likely to be rested for the T20Is.

The report claimed that the selectors have already 13 players for the World Cup. The player are – Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. Kohli and Bumrah are likely to return to action for the series.