BCCI has named KL Rahul as the captain for the first two ODIs of the upcoming three-match series against the Australian cricket team. Rahul will lead the Men in Blue in the ODI matches on September 22 and 24 in Mohali and Indore.
Many fans are confused after seeing the Indian ODI squad for the first two ODIs against Australia. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the squad along with captain Rohit Sharma at an online press conference. The chief selector has decided to rest the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel for the first two ODIs. All players will return for the third ODI in Rajkot on September 27.
The decision makes sense because all the players had a fine outing in the Asia Cup 2023 tournament, where India became the champions. Playing in the first two ODIs was not needed, and the third ODI would get the players in the groove before the warm-up matches of ICC World Cup 2023 against Netherlands and England.
KL Rahul is the captain of a new-look squad of India
Here is a look at the complete squad announced by BCCI for the first two ODIs of the series against the Australian team:
KL Rahul (c & wk), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar.
The players who did not get enough game time in the Asia Cup have been retained. Similarly, the players who came after an injury break or could not perform well in the continental championship have received a chance to play in the ODI series. All eyes will be on Jasprit Bumrah, who made his ODI return after a long time. Even Ravichandran Ashwin will be the player to watch out for.
