India's predicted Playing XI for the ODI series against Australia

The caravan of Team India’s home-season continues. After seeing off the Sri Lankans in the three-match T20I series, the next challenge for Virat Kohli’s men is the three-match ODI series against Aaron Finch-led Australians.

With the next fifty-over World Cup still three years, there is not much context added to the series, but given the fact, the Aussies defeated India, the last time they played an ODI series here, a sense of redemption will be brewing in the Indian set-up.

So, what should the make-up of the Indian playing XI for the Australian series? Will KL Rahul pip Shikhar Dhawan for the openers spot, given his recent performances against the West Indies? Will Kedar Jadhav continue to get opportunities? Or will India finally re-unite their wrist-spinners? All these questions are deemed to be answered when the Men in Blue lock horns with Australia in the much-awaited bilateral series.

Here’s India’s predicted XI for the series against Australia-

1. Rohit Sharma

After a well-deserved rest from the three-match T20I series against the Sri Lankans, the ‘Hitman’ will once again take center stage at his home ground against an opposition that he so relishes- the Australians.

2019 was the year of Rohit Sharma whether it was One-day cricket, T20 Internationals or even the longest format of the game, Test cricket. The modern-day white-ball great, Sharma broke a gazillion of records throughout 2019 and it all started with that brilliant hundred that he got against the Aussies in the first ODI of the past calendar year.

Sharma racked up 444 runs in 9 innings against Australia in 2019 at an average of 49.33 with the help of three hundred and one half-centuries, the second-most runs by an Indian against the Men from Down Under. And, the Indian vice-captain will hope he starts 2020 just like he started 2019.

2. Shikhar Dhawan

Now, one may have questions around Shikhar Dhawan’s credentials as a T20 opener, and rightfully so! But, when it comes to the longer format of white-ball cricket, the southpaw remains an irresistible force.

And, even though KL Rahul had a brilliant series- 185 runs in 3 games at 61.67- against the West Indies, the Karnataka batsman may still have to pave way for the left-handed Dhawan.

Just like his opening partner, Dhawan too had a pretty good time against the Aussies last year. The charismatic left-handed opener stroked a brilliant match-winning hundred against Australia in the World Cup before his campaign was cut-short courtesy an unfortunate finger injury. Overall, the southpaw racked up 349 games in 9 innings against the Aussies in 2019 at an average of 38.77 with the help of two hundred.

3. Virat Kohli (C)

Virat Kohli doesn’t like losing especially against Australia, and that too on home soil, which is exactly what he experienced, the last time the Aussies were in India for an ODI series.

India lost that series- 2-3 despite having won the opening two fixtures. With this being a three-match series, the Indian captain will be looking to stamp his authority not only as a batsman but also as a leader.

Kohli loves batting against the Aussies. And, the year 2019 was no different. The Indian captain was the leading run-scorer- 444 runs in 9 matches at an average of 49.33 with 1 hundred and three half-centuries- last year, and he’ll hope to continue with the same in the upcoming rubber.

4. Shreyas Iyer

One of the biggest positives for Team India in white-ball cricket post the 2019 World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand, is the development of Shreyas Iyer as the ideal No.4 batsman.

Iyer, in whatever opportunities he has got, post the World Cup, has done everything what can ideal No.4 batsman should do in One-day cricket. He has consolidated the innings whenever India has lost early wickets, as he did in Chennai along with Rishabh Pant, while at the same time, he has also shown the ability to take the attack to the opposition, as he did in the final ODIs of the past two series against the West Indies.

But, Australia will be a different kettle of fish and it will be another stern test of Iyer’s technique and resolve especially against the fast bowlers, something he would be gearing to counter.

5. Rishabh Pant (wk)

Rishabh Pant was in humongous pressure coming into the One-day series against the West Indies. He wasn’t getting any runs, his shot-selection at times was immature, his wicketkeeping was sloppy and he wasn’t having a great time with his DRS calls either.

But, as they say, adversity brings a beast in champions. But, in the case, it was his mature side that came out when he, along with Shreyas Iyer gritted it out in the middle in Chennai where he scored a calm-and-collected 71 after his side had lost their top-order in a jiffy.

And, then in the next game, the southpaw unleashed his ‘beast’ moniker where he shellacked the West Indians to all corners of the stadium during his 16-ball 39, and while he did get out against the run-of-play in the series-decider, the southpaw will hope he can continue on the good work that he did in the last series when he takes strike against the Aussies.

6. Kedar Jadhav 

Kedar Jadhav did not have the best of series against the West Indies, and with the next 50-over World Cup three years and him not getting any younger, questions began to galore around the Punekar’s spot in the Indian XI.

One of the reasons that Team India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun gave behind the selection of Kedar in the ODI set-up is because he offers a few overs of his off-spin bowling; something that none of the top-order batsman offer. And, this was something that went into Jadhav’s favour as compared to someone like Suryakumar Yadav, who has been consistently scoring runs for Mumbai in the domestic circuit.

But, if you look at the One-day series against the West Indies, Jadhav was used for just one over in the entire three matches in which he gave away 11 runs, never to be used later. With Jadhav in the squad, he is likely to make the playing XI, and it will be interesting to see, how Kohli uses him in the upcoming series against Australia.

7. Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja was ousted from the white-ball set-up post the 2017 Champions Trophy. But, the left-hander has since then made a great comeback, and courtesy the all-round package that he brings to the table, the southpaw has proceeded to become a crucial part of the India white-ball set-up.

Jadeja played a near match-winning inning in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand and he gave another account of how he is coming off as an international batsman when he steered the Men in Blue with an unbeaten 31-ball 39 in a tense run-chase against the West Indies.

Jadeja’s bowling, especially on flat tracks, still leaves a lot to be desired but his ability to consistently deliver 10 overs makes him a great all-round prospect in the absence of Hardik Pandya.

8. Shardul Thakur

With Mohammed Shami back into the set-up, India will face a tricky situation as to who they should select out of Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur as the third pacer alongside Bumrah and Shami.

Navdeep Saini made his ODI debut in the series decider against the West Indies and immediately impressed with his raw pace. The right-hander continued the good work in the T20I series against Sri Lanka where he bamboozled the batsmen with ferocious pace.

But, one thing that could go in favour of Shardul Thakur is the cushion of batting he provides in the lower-order. The Mumbai pacer stroked a match-winning cameo in the series decider against the West Indies and did an encore of it in the 3rd T20I against Sri Lanka. Besides that, Thakur also impressed with his variations in the T20I series, and with none of other bowlers boasting of ability to contribute with the bat, Shardul’s all-round package must just pip Navdeep Saini.

9. Kuldeep Yadav

With the Indian team-management opting to play just one of two wrist-spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, the same is likely to be the scenario in the Australian series unless the pitch on offer is a prodigious turner.

Kuldeep Yadav did not have a great 2019 but the chinaman managed to finish it out on a high when he claimed a hat-trick in the series decider against the West Indies, and even though he had just three wickets to show in as many games, the left-arm wrist-spinner showed enough signs of returning to his best.

Kuldeep’s downfall started during the last home series against the Australians where the likes of Maxwell and others played him really well, and the Chinaman will hope to stage redemption when he once again locks horns against the Aussies in the upcoming ODI series.

10. Mohammed Shami

Just like Rohit Sharma, pace bowler Mohammed Shami had a memorable calendar year of 2019 where he emerged as India’s leading wicket-taker across the formats. Like Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami will also be returning to the side after having taken a well-deserved rest from the T20I series against Sri Lanka.

Shami was one of the two Indian bowlers, who claimed a hat-trick in One-day Cricket back in 2019. Not only this, the Bengal pacer was the leading wicket-taker for India- 42 wickets in 21 games at an average of 22.64 and a strike-rate of 25.3.

He was also the leading wicket-taker for India- 5 wickets in 3 games- in the recently concluded series against the West Indies, and the right-hander will be hoping of emulating the same in the New Year, alongside his partner-in-crime Jasprit Bumrah.

11. Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah will play his first One-day International ever since that heart-breaking semi-final loss to New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup at Old Trafford. The Indian fast bowling spearhead missed out on the three-match One-day series in the Caribbean where he was rested to keep him afresh for the Test matches.

In the Test matches in the Caribbean, Bumrah bamboozled the West Indian batsmen with sustained pace and hostility before he was sidelined for four months due to a stress fracture.

The No.1 ranked ODI bowler in the world made his comeback to international cricket in the recently concluded T20I series against Sri Lanka, and the One-day series against Australia will be another step towards his recovery before tougher overseas challenges galore.