Fast bowlers – Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav on Sunday made a return to the India squad for the first three one-day internationals versus Australia, starting on September 17 in Chennai. Both Shami and Umesh were rested for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.
R Ashwin who is playing Worcestershire in Division two of the English county has not been included along with his spin twin Ravindra Jadeja.
After Sri Lanka’s historic cross-format thrashing by 9-0, the men in blue are ready to face mighty foes Australia for a limited-overs series which includes five ODIs and three T20 internationals. Virat Kohli will be leading the 16-member which was announced by BCCI on Sunday. As expected there were not many changes from the squad that thrashed Sri Lanka in the ODI series recently.
Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh who earlier didn’t manage to find a spot in the Duleep Trophy and Board President XI’s squads has again been overlooked. Middle-order batsman Manish Pandey who scored his maiden half-century in the one-off T20I vs Sri Lanka in Colombo has been rewarded for his consistent outings with the bat.
Selection committee chairman MSK Prasad said players such as Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel have been given an extended run due to their impressive showings on the tour of Sri Lanka, where India won all their matches. The spinning trio of – Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Axar Patel did well for the Indian team in the five ODIs and in the one-off T20I versus Sri Lanka.
"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," Prasad said.
The former India stumper added, "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."
India’s squad for first 3 ODIs vs Australia
Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami
