Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi as the duo brought Ganpatti Bappa home on Tuesday. At present, both Kohli and Rohit are having some free time before he joins the Indian squad for the third ODI clash against Australia. Under the leadership of Rohit, the Men in Blue completed a dominating performance in the Asia Cup as they defeated Sri Lanka in the final match of the competition. Kohli was also in red-hot form as he smashed an unbeaten ton against
India rested regular captain Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli and Kuldeep Yadav for the first two games, with K L Rahul named as the captain. Ravindra Jadeja was named as the vice-captain for the first two games, while Shreyas Iyer has also been ruled fit for the series. India have a strong pace attack for the Australia series comprising Asia Cup final hero Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna.
“Rohit and Virat have been around forever. Hardik – we want to manage the workload. Kuldeep’s an amazing player. At some stage, more than physical, guys needs a mental break. From the third game, everyone’s available to play. It also gives opportunity to the guys sitting on the bench. Also Asia Cup gave them a lot of game time,” said chief selector Ajit Agarkar after the selection committee meeting.
KL Rahul to lead India in first Two ODIs
Squad for the 1st two ODIs: KL Rahul (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja (Vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Squad for the 3rd & final ODI: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, (Vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel*, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj