Kris Srikkanth picks his India XI for AUS vs IND 2025 1st ODI; ignores Harshit Rana

Former batter and 1983 World Cup winner Kris Srikkanth picked his India XI ahead of the first one-day against Australia. The game will be played on Sunday, October 19, at Perth. The Men in Blue are set to play a three-match ODI series Down Under. Shubman Gill was named the new ODI captain ahead of the start of the series.

This series will also mark the return of veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to international cricket. Shreyas Iyer was also picked and appointed vice-captain. To start with, Srikkanth included all of them in the top four alongside KL Rahul at number five as the wicketkeeper batter.

Kris Srikkanth then made an interesting choice by including three all-rounders. These were Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar. He wrapped up his India XI with Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna. The former batter left out the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana.

Kris Srikkanth's India XI for 1st ODI against Australia (via his YouTube channel 'Cheeky Cheeka') - Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (C), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), KL Rahul (WK), Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Given that India have focused more on batting depth, Srikkanth reckoned Sundar would slot in at number eight. He opined that he would play three spinners and use Nitish Kumar Reddy as the third pacer.

"If you look at the trend, they are playing with eight batters. The number eight should also be able to bat. If you are thinking of batting till eight, Washington Sundar should be the automatic choice. I will still play Sundar at eight, Kuldeep nine, ten and eleven will be Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. I will use Nitish as the third seamer and still go with three spinners," he said.

The second ODI will be played on Thursday, October 23, in Adelaide. Sydney will play host to the third and final ODI on Saturday, October 25.

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Kris Srikkanth on India's bowling combination ahead of first ODI

India decided to rest ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah for the ODI series. In his absence, Kris Srikkanth reckoned that the team would rely on Siraj and Krishna. Speaking about India's bowling combination, he opined that it would be unfair to play Sundar at the expense of Kuldeep Yadav.

The former batter expressed that he would go with Siraj, Kuldeep, Sundar, and Krishna together in the bowling unit.

"By any chance if it is a juicy wicket, there is Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, they have a more experienced pace attack, Bumrah is going to be a big miss for us so we will be dependent on Siraj and Prasidh. You can't drop Kuldeep. If you say you will drop Kuldeep and play Washington, it will be unfair on Kuldeep. If I was captain, I would play Siraj, Kuldeep, Washington, and Prasidh," he said.

On picking Krishna over Arshdeep, Kris Srikkanth highlighted that the left-arm pacer would not fit into the combination, given the conditions in Australia. He reflected that Krishna, who is more of a hit-the-deck bowler, would generate extra bounce on Australian pitches.

"Arshdeep has done no wrong but the problem is with the combination. Why not Prasidh over Arshdeep? This is not T20. This is ODI. Prasidh can get extra bounce in Australian wickets."

It will be interesting to see if India decides to go with three spinners or three genuine fast bowlers.