India vs Australia: KL Rahul back in the mix for ODI series

After beating Australia in their own backyard, India are set to play the Men in Yellow in a couple of home limited-overs series. They will play a T20I series followed by an ODI series. The 20-overs fixtures get underway on Sunday, February 24 in Visakhapatnam. The One Dayers start on Saturday, March 2 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

In the meantime, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has named two separate squads for the ODI series. Virat Kohli, after a short break following the three ODIs in New Zealand, returns as the captain. Siddarth Kaul, the Punjab fast bowler, who made his debut in the England tour, staked his claim back into the national team for the first couple of ODIs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar hasn’t been included in the first two games but would be back for the last three contests in Ranchi, Mohali, and Delhi respectively. The biggest inclusion came in the form of 26-year-old Karnataka-batsman KL Rahul, who has been encountering a poor run of form of late. He was dropped from the ODI team after the One Day series in Australia.

Nevertheless, the right-hander churned out two decent knocks in the unofficial Test series against England Lions and got himself back into the setup. Dinesh Karthik, who was a part of the ODIs in New Zealand, has been left out and Rishabh Pant has been persisted with.

Here is the squad for the first two ODIs

Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MSD (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohamed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Siddharth Kaul, KL Rahul

Here is the squad for the remaining three ODIs

Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MSD (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant

Get the latest Cricket News and updates, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.