In keeping with the rotation policy necessitated by a taxing international schedule right up to the 2019 World Cup, the selectors brought in pace bowlers Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami at the expense of rookie Shardul Thakur for the first three of the five ODIs against Australia.
There was hardly any surprise departure from the unit that whitewashed Sri Lanka as the BCCI announced the squad on Sunday following a video-conference between the selectors and the acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary; Umesh and Shami were in the Test team last month.
R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja continue to be rested while the batting line-up has been retained; so has the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel.
“The team for the three ODIs against Australia has been selected in line with the rotation policy of the board, and accordingly Ashwin and Jadeja have been rested,” chief selector M.S.K. Prasad said in the statement.
“[Players like] Axar and Chahal, who performed very well, are being given an extended run, and this will in turn supplement our approach to build a strong reserve strength as we prepare for forthcoming tours.”
The Hindu understands that the team management in consultation with the selection committee may have preferred to look for options beyond Ashwin for white-ball cricket.
While highly successful in Tests, the off-spinner has achieved only modest success in coloured clothing over the last couple of years.
It may not be a surprise if Ashwin — now plying his trade for Worcestershire in England — is not seen in action in the limited-overs fixtures over the next couple of months. Jadeja, who has also been rested since the conclusion of the Test series in Sri Lanka, could be called up for the last two ODIs.
- Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
India-A squad (vs New Zealand-A): Karun Nair (capt.), Priyank Panchal, R. Samarth, Sudip Chatterjee, Shreyas Iyer, Ankit Bawne, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (w.k.), Shahbaz Nadeem, K. Gowtham, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Ankit Rajpoot.
