MS Dhoni led India to attend week long camp in Bengaluru

Team India will meet for a week-long camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru ahead of their limited-overs series against England. India will play the opening fixture on 15th January at the Gahunje Stadium in Pune. After a brilliant year in the longest format of the game, the Men in Blue will hope to replicate their tremendous Test form in the limited-overs leg under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.

The series will also be the last ODI assignment for India ahead of the Champions Trophy in England in June. The move to organise the camp has been the idea of India’s head coach Anil Kumble who wants the team to regroup and spend some quality time with each other ahead of the short limited-overs series. Limited overs skipper MS Dhoni will attend the camp but will leave mid-way to participate in the two practise games for the Board President XI against England.

It will provide Dhoni with the much-needed match practise as he hasn’t played competitive cricket since the ODI series triumph against the Black Caps. Prior to the series, the Indian Express suggested that spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja might be rested for the limited overs series keeping in mind the upcoming busy Test schedule.

India will play a one-off Test against Bangladesh at Hyderabad in February followed by a 4-match series against the Aussies. Off Spinner Jayant Yadav who had a brilliant debut Test series against England might also be rested.

Opener Rohit Sharma is expected to miss cricketing action for the next 12 weeks after he failed to recuperate after undergoing a knee surgery very recently. It means the hard-hitting batsman might well miss the one-off Test against Bangladesh and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Fitness doubts surrounding Ajinkya Rahane and Hardik Pandy might tempt the selectors to give Rishab Pant his maiden break after consistent performances with the bat in the domestic circuit. While KL Rahul is expected to return to the scheme of things, out of favour left-handers Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh might also make it to the squad.