Shubman Gill was selected as the captain of the ODI team for the Australia tour on Saturday (4 September), thereby signaling a major change in Indian cricket, which had been triggered earlier this year when Gill took over the Test captaincy from Rohit Sharma following the latter’s declaration to stop playing red-ball cricket. The announcement was made by BCCI’s chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar in a press conference minutes after India had won the first Test against the West Indies at Ahmedabad.
In the same breath, Shreyas Iyer was named vice-captain for the ODIs while remaining out of the T20I side.
India will play three ODIs in Australia, starting October 19 at Perth, followed by a five-match T20I series from October 29 at Canberra.
Shubman Gill was the vice-captain of the team that won the Champions Trophy for India. That was the last ODI assignment for India, which was led by Rohit Sharma.
Rohit Sharma, a member of that team as a player, then continued in the ODI setup, albeit only as a player; Virat Kohli, another great of the ODI format, was a straight pick too.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was rested for the three-match ODI series but included for the five T20Is, keeping in mind next year’s World Cup.
Ravindra Jadeja And Hardik Pandya Not Picked for Australia ODIs
Among other significant absentees came the all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, along with the wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant. Pandya was out for the Australia tour with an injury sustained in the last group stage round against Sri Lanka, whereas Pant nurses a fractured foot.
Jadeja, however, was axed for Axar Patel to be given prominence as the chief spin-bowling all-rounder. Meanwhile, Washington Sundar, as well as opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, made comebacks in the ODI setup. Agarkar, though, made it clear that Rohit would open with Gill and that Jaiswal was in the party as a back-up opener.
Hardik Pandya was replaced in the ODI and T20I squads by Nitish Kumar Reddy. With Rishabh Pant injured, KL Rahul will be keeping wickets in ODIs. Dhruv Jurel has edged out Sanju Samson for the backup keeper’s spot as the selectors considered Jurel to be better suited to bat in the middle-order than the Rajasthan Royals captain in 50-overs cricket.
India’s ODI squad for Australia tour: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal
