With Ishan Kishan ruled out for the third ODI match against Australia, the Rohit-Virat pair could be opening for India.
Possible opening pair for third ODI against Australia
India is set to play their third ODI match against Australia on September 27 at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. India team had made some changes in the squad for the third ODI match. India leads the series with victories in two ODI matches.
It is seen that the management has made some changes in the squad. Rohit Sharma said that Players Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur, and Axar Patel were rested in the match at the pre-match press conference. Ishan Kishan was also rested in the third match are forced to miss the game due to illness.
Rohit Sharma confirmed Ishan’s absence during the toss which BCCI posted after the toss in Rajkot. “Ishan Kishan was unavailable for selection for the 3rd ODI due to an illness,” said the statement.
“Additionally, four local state players – Dharmendra Jadeja, Prerak Mankad, Vishwaraj Jadeja, and Harvik Desai will support the team for drinks and fielding throughout the match.”
With the absence of Ishan Kishan, India will be going on without openers which would leave the option for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Despite KL Rahul has opened for India in the ODI for the past, he was impressive at batting in no.4 in the batting order.
On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer has never played as an opener and he was better at no.3 where he scored a century in the previous game. Iyer has only three games after returning to cricket after a back injury. With Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja in the low order, who could help Rohit in the chase as Australia chose to bat in the third match.
The side has been facing many issues with many injuries to fill the spots but with the return of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. And with Axar Patel rested due to his injury, there might be a good chance for Ashwin to be included in the World Cup Squad.
Rohit Sharma has hinted at Ravichandran Ashwin’s place in the World Cup squad but he didn’t give any updates on Axar Patel’s recovery. With the deadline for finalizing the squad is nearing by, the announcement from BCCI becomes highly expected among cricket world.
With India completing their ODI series against Australia, they are set to play in two warm-up games against England on September 30 at Barsapara Stadium and the Netherlands on October 3 at Greenfield Stadium.
