Indian ODI squad to face Australia announced

The selectors have stuck with almost the same side

What's the story?

The Indian selectors have announced a 16-member Indian squad for the first three ODIs of the upcoming five-match ODI series against Australia that starts in Chennai on September 17.

Squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzi Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami

India team for first three ODIs of the 5-match ODI series against @CAComms announced #INDvAUS

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 10, 2017

TEAM: Kohli (C), Rohit, Shikhar, Rahul, Pandey, Jadhav, Rahane, MSD, Hardik, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvi, Umesh, Shami #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/sC0UnBfDns

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 10, 2017

In case you didn't know...

India rested their entire bowling department, that took part in the Test series against Sri Lanka which includes the likes of Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, for the ODI series in the island nation.

One would have expected that the selectors will give the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik a chance to prove themselves after India's woes at number 4 continued in Sri Lanka where KL Rahul failed to impress.

Details

Shardul Thakur has been left out from the side that toured Sri Lanka and in his place, the selectors have recalled Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav for the upcoming series.

The Virat Kohli-led squad does not have any surprises from the team that won the ODI series 5-0 in Sri Lanka. Once again, the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik are not included in the team.

R Ashwin, who is currently in England taking part in the county cricket for Worcestershire, has not been included in the squad so that he can play few more matches there and gain some experience before India tours England next season.

Opener Rohit Sharma continues to be the vice-captain of the Indian ODI team.

What's next?

India take on Australia in a five-match series that starts in Chennai on September 17 followed by Kolkata on September 21, Indore on September 24, Bengaluru on September 28 and Nagpur on October 1.

Author's Take

This squad looks strong on paper and definitely has the potential to beat the Australian team in an ODI series. It will be interesting to see who bats at number 4 and the bowling combination India will use in the series.

Manish Pandey looked good in the two innings he played and the team management should give him an extended run at the number 4 spot while all three spinners deserve to be in the playing XI.