India and Australia are all set to face each other in white-ball cricket, comprised of two T20Is and five ODIs. The limited-overs series will kick-start in Bengaluru with the first Twenty20 International on February 24 while Vizag will host the second shortest format game on February 27. Subsequently, the five ODIs will be staged in Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ranchi, Mohali and Delhi on March 2, March 5, March 8, March 10 and March 13 respectively.
The series is considered as a handy option for both the teams to get their combination right ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019, scheduled to be held in England from May 30 to July 14.
With the series is fast-approaching, it is learnt that the India team management and the national selectors are mulling over resting or rotating some of the key members of the squad, who are certain to be picked for the mega event.
As per a report in Sportstar, selectors will try and strike a balance of resting senior batsmen, rotating pacers and trying out the back-up options for the World Cup. Report also suggests that Rohit Sharma, who led the national T20I side in Virat Kohli’s absence in New Zealand, is expected to be rested — at least partially — from the Australia series to spend some time with his newborn daughter.
It will be interesting to see if Kohli, who was rested after the first three ODIs in New Zealand, plays all five ODIs against Australia or the selectors try out a few back-up options. The selection committee lead by MSK Prasad could be tempted to test fringe batsmen like opener KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane. Other back-up options such as Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant are likely to be given more games so that they can be ready for the World Cup challenge.
The pace troika of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami is set to be rotated in order to help them recover. The wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav could also get a break at some point during the series.
Earlier, skipper Virat Kohli had called for country’s premier fast bowlers to be rested from IPL 2019 in order to have a “fresh and fit” pace attack at his disposal in World Cup. However, the IPL franchises have made it clear that they cannot rest key India players at least in the first half of the tournament. Therefore, the selectors will have to give key players a break to avoid fitness issues.
(With inputs from Sportstar)
