On a day when India revealed their squads for the white-ball tour of Australia later this month, beyond the obvious change of guard there were also plenty of glimpses of how this ODI team will look going forward.
While the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, kept insisting that the 2027 World Cup is still a long while away, from the team that won the ICC Champions Trophy there are two faces India seem to be moving on from.
Mohammed Shami, who has struggled to make the Test team cut, doesn’t find a spot and neither does Ravindra Jadeja, who is long retired from T20Is. In place of them came Prasidh Krishna, a seamer Rohit Sharma was keen on for the 2023 World Cup until he struggled with injuries, and Washington Sundar, an all-rounder who has been waiting in the wings for a while.
The Indian Express understands that when the selectors sat down for discussion with the support staff about the way forward in the ODIs, the big picture — i.e., the 2027 World Cup — featured prominently in discussions. While it is exactly two years away, what was factored in is that there are not many ODIs lined up. From now till the end of the season, India have nine ODIs – three each against Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. And it is only from next June that India have a series of ODI bilateral events planned. It is learnt that the plan is to identify a pool and take stock of the assets a year later and then narrow it down to the core from there. And their picks for the Australia trip were in tune with this philosophy.
Shami’s exclusion isn’t surprising, given that he hasn’t featured in the selectors’ plan across all formats in recent times. With Jadeja, it came on a day where the all-rounder walked away with the Man of the Match performance in Ahmedabad. The 36-year-old’s form and fitness aren’t an issue. He had a two-month break after the England tour, but it is understood that with Axar Patel evolving into an asset in T20s, where he offers flexibility with the bat, the team management seems to prefer him over Jadeja.
“With regards to Jadeja, at the moment to take two left-arm spinners to Australia is not possible,” Agarkar said. “He is clearly in the scheme of things with how good he is. But there will be some competition for places. Of course, he was there in the Champions Trophy squad because we took those extra spinners with the conditions there. At the moment, we could only carry one and get some balance in the team with Washy and Kuldeep there as well. I don’t think we are going to need more than that in Australia. It’s just a short series.”
India have included both Jadeja and Axar in the past. But it is the latter who has made the cut with one spot available, a sign of what to expect going forward. In South Africa two years later, where the conditions will be similar to Australia, there will be a spot for only one of them and Axar is currently ahead in that race. With not more than three spinners expected to be part of the squad, Kuldeep — with his X-factor — is an automatic pick. With Washington, India have variety, as apart from his off-breaks, his batting can offer flexibility, a key ingredient under coach Gautam Gambhir.
Given his recent form, there was noise around Abhishek Sharma being in contention for a spot in the ODI squad. But for now, he has to play the waiting game with the selectors rightfully putting their faith in Yashasvi Jaiswal for the role.
Having been part of the T20 World Cup squad last year, it is understood that the team management sees him as the perfect candidate to take over from Rohit Sharma. Jaiswal not only provides solidity at the top, but is also capable of being a naturally aggressive batsman. With a good back-foot game to ride the bounce, Jaiswal has relished the bounce and pace which has tilted the scales heavily in his favour. Abhishek, on the other hand, is around the mix and if there is any potential rejig in the batting order, the Punjab opener could well come in place at the top going forward.
The emergence of Nitish Kumar Reddy is proving to be a big shot in the arm for the selectors and the team management. Given Hardik Pandya’s fitness struggles and how his absence mid-way through the previous World Cup affected the team balance, India are not keen on taking any chances this time around. With Nitish showing tremendous promise, he also offers competition to Pandya as he has also shown capabilities to play up the order in the IPL. And as soon as Pandya was unavailable for the trip Down Under because of an injury he picked up during the Asia Cup, Nitish became a straightforward choice.
The other notable inclusion was the second wicketkeeper. With Rishabh Pant recovering from injury, and KL Rahul being the first-choice, the selectors have picked Dhruv Jurel as the backup option. Although Sanju Samson had scored a century in the last ODI he played (in South Africa) with India having a top-heavy batting line-up, he has been deemed a luxury. Instead, with their options being limited down the order and Rahul now playing at No 6, Jurel will be a like-for-like back-up option.
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