IND vs AUS: After clinching the ODI series against Australia, the Indian Cricket team will reportedly miss the services of three star players in the dead rubber third ODI. The Men in Blue completed a series win over the Aussies with a thumping 99-run victory in the second ODI in Indore and will take on the visitors in the final game on Wednesday. However, there will be some absentees and returnees in the Indian squad
Three players - Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur and Shubman Gill will be missing out on being part of the third ODI. According to a report in Cricbuzz, Axar Patel has been ruled out of the Rajkot ODI as he has not recovered completely from the quadriceps strain that he suffered in the Asia Cup 2023.
Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur rested
Moreover, the report added that Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur would not be part of the Indian team for the final ODI as well. The duo have been granted rest and there are no fitness concerns over them. Meanwhile, there will be some returnees in the squad as well.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav were rested from the first two games but will make a return in the third one. While giving rest to the quartet, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said, "Rohit and Virat have been around forever. Hardik is an important player for us. We want him to manage him. Kuldeep is in great form. It also gives us a chance to look at some of the other guys. That is the thinking. Luckily we got a fair amount of cricket in the Asia Cup. If not, we would have looked at it some other way."
Meanwhile, Axar was included only in the third ODI and was not part of the squad for the first two games. "From what has been made known to us with Axar’s injury is that he should be okay. That’s a call we’ll make once we know that. Axar, unfortunately, picked up an injury in that game, and we are hopeful that he will be fit," Agarkar had said on Axar.
