Sanjay Bangar picks his India playing 11 for AUS vs IND 2025 1st ODI; omits Kuldeep Yadav

India v New Zealand: Final - ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - Source: Getty
Kuldeep Yadav starred in India's last ODI victory in the 2025 Champions Trophy final [Credit: Getty]

Former batting coach Sanjay Bangar picked his Team India playing XI for the first ODI of the upcoming three-match series against Australia in Perth on October 19 (via Star Sports' Instagram handle). The series marks the return of the legendary duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in Indian colors for the first time since March.

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Bangar went with Rohit and new skipper Shubman Gill to open the batting with Kohli slotting in at No.3. Vice-captain Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul followed at No. 4 and 5.

Bangar went for three all-rounders from No. 6 to 8 with Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar. The former all-rounder made a surprising choice by excluding ace spinner Kuldeep Yadav from the lineup.

Instead, Bangar went with three specialist pacers, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Siraj to round off his playing 11 for the Perth ODI. Kuldeep aside, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Prasidh Krishna were the others from the 15-member squad excluded from Bangar's playing 11.

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Sanjay Bangar's Team India playing XI for 1st ODI against Australia

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Nitesh Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana

When did Team India last play an ODI before the upcoming Australia series?

Team India last played an ODI game months back in the 2025 Champions Trophy final against New Zealand. The Men in Blue dominated the tournament, winning all three group stage outings and the semifinal, before the summit clash.

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Led by Rohit Sharma in what turned out to be his final match as Indian captain, Team India produced an excellent all-round performance against the Kiwis to win their first ICC ODI title since 2013.

After restricting New Zealand to 251 in 50 overs, the Asian giants controlled the run chase in style to complete the task in 49 overs with four wickets in hand.

Meanwhile, India and Australia last played a bilateral ODI series just before the 2023 World Cup in India, with the hosts winning 2-1. Yet, the two teams met three times in ODIs between that series and now in the 2023 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.

The Men in Blue got the better of the Aussies twice in the group stage of the 2023 World Cup and the Champions Trophy final. However, the Men in Yellow upstaged the Indians in the 2023 ODI World Cup final in front of a packed crowd at Ahmedabad.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
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