India vs Australia 2017: India Announce Squad For First Three ODIs

Fast-bowling duo Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have returned to the One-Day International team for the first three games of the upcoming series against Australia while Shardul Thakur is the only player from the squad that was picked for the recently-concluded series in Sri Lanka who has been dropped.

While a spate of changes was not expected following the impressive 5-0 win against Sri Lanka, there are some notable absentees in the squad. Yuvraj Singh, who was not in the squad for the Sri Lanka series, was expected to return after chief selector MSK Prasad had said that the southpaw was rested and dropped.

Spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have also not made it to the squad. While Ashwin’s absence was very much expected since he is currently plying his trade in county cricket, Jadeja’s omission has been a baffling one. Well, it seems like the team wanted to give Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav and extended run after their impressive show in Sri Lanka.

However, MSK Prasad insisted that Jadeja along Ashwin has been rested while also confirming that Axar and Chahal have got an extended run for their impressive performance against the Islanders.

“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. The team’s performance during the Sri Lanka tour was outstanding and players like Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal, who performed very well are being given an extended run and this will in turn supplement our approach, to build a strong reserve strength, as we prepare for forthcoming tours,” MSK Prasad said.

The five-match series will start on September 17 in Chennai. The ODI series will be followed by a three-match T20I series.

Squad:

Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

Schedule for the ODI series:

First ODI – MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, September 17

Second ODI – Eden Gardens, Kolkata, September 21

Third ODI – Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore, September 24

Fourth ODI – M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, September 28

Fifth ODI – Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, October 1